New York, USA—The winter 2016 issue of Dialogue & Alliance, a journal of UPF, is now available. The theme of this issue is “Dialogue and Cooperation Among Religions”.
This issue of Dialogue and Alliance (Volume 30, Number 2) pays tribute to the interfaith vision and foundation that gave rise to this publication, thirty years ago, following the convening of the first Assembly of the World’s Religions in 1985. The Assembly was sponsored by the International Religious Foundation (IRF), which had been founded by the Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon to promote world peace through interreligious dialogue. The Assembly of the World’s Religions was the flagship project of IRF, with large world-level meetings held in 1985, 1990 and 1992. However, there were several interfaith initiatives that were closely linked as parts of the IRF; these included the New Ecumenical Research Association (New ERA), the Youth Seminar on the World’s Religions (YSWR), the Council for the World’s Religions (CWR) and the Religious Youth Service (RYS). These various programs, and associated publications, evolved over time, taking new shapes and forms as the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace (IRFWP) in 1991, the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) in 1999, and the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in 2005.
These numerous initiatives have had a wide and positive impact on a global level, playing a very substantial role in the wider movement aimed at building bridges of mutual respect, understanding and cooperation among the believers of our human family’s many religious and spiritual paths.
The name for this journal, Dialogue and Alliance, was the name of the Founder’s Address delivered by Rev. Sun Myung Moon at the first Assembly of the World’s Religions and is included in this volume. That Founder’s Address title became the inspiration for the launch of this publication. The first issue appeared in 1987.
It is with this background in mind that we have collected several articles for this issue from contributors who have had direct experience with the interfaith initiatives mentioned above.
To view the table of contents, please see below.
Dialogue & Alliance
Vol. 30 No. 2, Winter 2016
Dialogue and Cooperation Among Religions
Introduction
“Dialogue and Alliance”
Founder’s Address: Assembly of the World’s Religions
Call to Order
Dr. M. Darrol Bryant, Director, Centre for Dialogue & Spirituality in the World Religions, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
1985 Assembly of the World’s Religions: Introduction to Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Dr. Herbert Richardson, Professor of Religious Studies, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Retired)
Founder’s Address: Dialogue and Alliance
Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, Founder, Universal Peace Federation
Closing Remarks
Dr. Huston Smith, Author, the World’s Religions
Essays in Honor of “Dialogue and Alliance”
Remembering, Beginnings and the Future
Dr. M. Darrol Bryant, Director, Centre for Dialogue & Spirituality in the World Religions, Renison University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
A Brief Narrative History of the Genesis of the Ecumenical Work of the International Religious Foundation
Yanni (John) Maniates, Director, North America: Unity.Earth
The Religious Youth Service: Thirty Years of Modeling Religious Cooperation
Rev. John W. Gehring, RYS Senior Alumni Advisor
Congratulations on 30 Years of Dialogue and Alliance
Dr. James Gollnick, St. Paul’s United College, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
Interfaith Dialogue and the Challenge of “the Other(s)”
Dr. Ursula King, Professor Emerita of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol Institute of Advanced Studies, UK
The Importance of Interreligious Dialogues
Lama Doboom Tulku, Founder and Managing Trustee of World Buddhist Culture Trust, India
Why Is Interreligious Dialogue Not Gaining Momentum?
Prof. Dr. Francis X. D’Sa, SJ, Director, Institute for the Study of Religions, Pune, India
Guru Granth Sahib: a Model for Interfaith Understanding in Today’s World
Dr. Kazi Nurul Islam, Retired Professor and Founding Chair, Department of World Religions and Culture, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Time for a New Idea: Gobind Sadan’s Practical Path to Interfaith Understanding
Ms. Mary Pat Fisher, Director of International Communications for Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Studies in Comparative Religion, New Delhi, India