New Name
A new organizational name! We legally changed our name from “The United States Conference of Religions for Peace, Inc.” to the simpler moniker “Religions for Peace – USA, Inc.” It is official. This is in keeping with the hoped-for global process of adopting the “Religions for Peace” nomenclature for the 50+ national chapters of the World Conference of Religions for Peace. The acronym, likewise, changes from USCRP to RFP-USA. Finally, our preferred web domain is now www.rfpusa.org, though the older domains of www.uscrp.org, www.wcrp-usa.org, www.multireligious.org, www.interreligious.org, etc. will continue to auto-refer to this main domain.

New Staff
Several young people have been helping in the office this summer, including a few new faces. They are doing exciting things to help us provide capacity building tools to local interreligious communities and to give shape to our work on diversity and the role of the U.S. as global citizen. For example, Ms. Lori Calmbacher is working on an education/dialogue project for the Same Difference Interfaith Alliance and, on her own time, executing a project entitled “Mapping Typologies of Interfaith Structures in the U.S.” for Harvard’s Pluralism Project.

African Union Welcomes Partnership with the ACRL-Religions for Peace

In meetings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this month, the African Union (AU) committed to working in partnership with the African Council of Religious Leaders. As the official pan-continental, inter-governmental body representing all countries on the continent, the AU welcomed the ACRL’s role as vital in addressing the challenges that face Africa and its people. Meeting with the Executive Board of the ACRL, H. E. Prof. Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairman of the African Union Commissions, noted the strong parallel in the missions of the two continental bodies, the great potential in a synergistic alliance and expressed satisfaction in the developing partnership.

Sheik Mubajje of Uganda described the ACRL’s ability to mobilize their faith communities, a point that was greatly appreciated by the AU. Also of interest was the fact that although the ACRL is faith-based, Religions for Peace affiliated national and regional Inter-Religious Councils are committed to serving any and all in Africa who are threatened or have been impacted by conflict, poverty, political exclusion, or the scourge of AIDS – regardless of religious affiliation or ethnic identity. The ACRL delegates stressed that religious communities continue to play a critical, and too often unrecognized, role in resolving conflict and building peace in many of African countries, frequently doing so through multi-religious collaboration.

The historic meeting ended with a proposal to establish the Religions for Peace-Africa Standing Commission on Conflict Transformation as a first step toward collaborating to resolve and prevent conflicts across the Continent.

Maryknoll was established in 1911 as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America by the Bishops of the United States. Responsibility for its development fell to two diocesan priests, Fr. James Anthony Walsh of Boston and Fr. Thomas Frederick Price of North Carolina, with the commission to recruit, send and support U.S. missioners in areas around the world. On June 29, 1911, Pope Pius X blessed the founding of Maryknoll. Maryknoll's first missioners left for China in 1918. Today there are over 550 Maryknoll priests and Brothers serving in countries around the world, principally in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The U.S.-based Catholic mission movement, includes: the Maryknoll Society (priests and brothers), Maryknoll Congregation (Sisters), the Maryknoll Mission Association of the Faithful (laity, priests and religious), and the Maryknoll Affiliates.

Since 1911, Catholics in the United States have responded to the worldwide cry of the poor by becoming Maryknoll Missioners. Today, Maryknollers help people overseas build communities of faith. Some work in war zones with refugees, others minister to the sick, the elderly, orphans, or people with AIDS. Through lives of service, Maryknollers translate the gospel of love into different languages and in different cultures.

Maryknoll Sisters
Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic. Women from many nations who live in community, take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and are committed to Gospel values and global mission. Their focus is women's empowerment, community building, and action for justice and peace.

Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (CFMSA). A mission community of priests and brothers whose focus is to work overseas and share Gospel values and Christ's message with other peoples, cultures, and religious traditions.

Maryknoll Mission Association of the Faithful
Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Associate Diocesan and Religious Priests, Brothers and Sisters. A Catholic community of lay people (singles, couples and families), diocesan and religious priests, sisters and brothers. They make a three-and-a-half-year renewable commitment to working with the poor, oppressed and marginalized overseas.

"Religion in Ohio - Profiles of Faith Communities" Edited by Tarunjit Singh Butalia and Dianne P. Small.

Religion in Ohio tells the story of Ohio's religious and spiritual heritage going back to the state's ancient and historic native populations, and including the westward migration of settlers to this region, the development of a wide variety of faith traditions in the years preceding the mid-twentieth century, and the arrival of newer immigrants in the last fifty years, each group bringing with it their own time-honored and cherished traditions. The book documents the religious pluralism in Ohio and includes chapters on the historical experiences and beliefs of over forty Christian groups, as well as Native American, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Baha'i, Jain and Zoroastrian faiths. Each chapter was written by a member of that faith or denomination.

"This book provides a unique perspective on religion in Ohio, and we hope it will contribute toward increasing interfaith awareness and respect" - Diane Small, an executive assistant at the Ohio State University Medical Center. She holds a degree in History from the Ohio State University, and is a member of the Ohio Bicentennial Religious Experience Advisory Council and the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio.

"As people of different faiths interact with one another, we hope 'they' will become 'us', and 'theirs' will become 'ours'." - Tarunjit Singh Butalia, a research scientist at the Ohio State University. He is a member of the Ohio Bicentennial Religious Experience Advisory Council, the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, the North American Interfaith Network, and Religions for Peace - USA.

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