The Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue

The Order’s Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue gathered at the General Curia from 13-17 February 2017. The Commission met to establish its agenda of activities and projects for the present sexennium, in support of the Order’s General Constitutions (a. 95, §§1-2) and Ratio Studiorum (aa. 70-74). This was the first meeting of the Commission, and was organized by Br. Russel Murray, General Animator for Evangelization and President of the Commission. The Commission’s other members are:

• Br. Michael Calabria (Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, USA): Vice President of the Commission, representing the Special Commission for Dialogue with Islam, and Director of the Center for Arab & Islamic Studies at St. Bonaventure University in Allegheny, NY.
• Br. Apollinaire Bahinde (International Fraternity for Dialogue, Turkey): Coordinator for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue of the Archdiocese of Izmir and Professor of Ecumenical Theology at John XXIII Seminary in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Mr. Riccardo Burigana (Mestre, Italy): Professor at the Institute of Ecumenical Studies (Venice) and Director of the “Centro del Ecumenismo.”
• Br. Pradeep Kalliath (Province of St. Thomas, India): Director of "Friend of Earth" Eco-Spirituality Center in Kerala, India.
• Br. Ivan Macut (Province of the Most Holy Redeemer, Croatia): Professor at the University of Split.
• Br. Jürgen Neitzert (Province of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, Germany): JPIC Coordinator for COTAF and Leader in the Center for Migrants and Refugees, International Association for Peace and Justice Pro Humanitate.
• Br. James Puglisi (Society of the Atonement): Director of the “Centro Pro Unione” (Rome) and Professor of Ecumenical Theology at the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm (Rome), the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Institute of Ecumenical Studies (Venice).
• Br. Iko Skoko (Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bosnia-Erzegovina): Founder of the Franciscan Center for Dialogue in Mostar.
• Br. John Wong (Province of the Holy Spirit, Australia and New Zealand): Custos of Singapore-Malaysia-Brunei, active in dialogue with the Order of Interbeing, founded in Vietnam by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh.

Projects of the Commission will include the development of pastoral and preaching aids and of materials and programs designed to educate brothers of the Order and the faithful we serve about the practical significance of Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue for our evangelical mission, particularly with regard to JPIC.