ISI Bangalore Celebrates International Day of Peace 2025
Indian Social Institute, Bangalore, celebrated International Day of Peace 2025 with a webinar jointly organised with Islamic Studies Association (ISA) on the book “A Vision for Muslim-Christian Cooperation” edited by Herman Roborgh and Joseph Victor Edwin SJ on 21st September, 2025. In his welcome address, Dr. Selvaraj Arulnathan SJ, the Director of ISI Bangalore, highlighted the importance of the book in bringing about greater understanding and cooperation between Abrahamic religions in the world. Dr. Denzil Fernandes SJ, Head of Department of Peace and Reconciliation, introduced the speakers while emphasizing the need for peace in a world plagued by hatred, violence and war. He pointed out that the webinar is a response to the call of United Nations theme 2025: “Act Now for a Peaceful World”. Fr. Midhun Francis SJ, a Systematic Theologian and Islamic scholar at the Gregorian University, Rome, made a detailed presentation on the 20 articles in the book written by Christian and Muslim scholars in Islam from different parts of the world. He unraveled the many different ways in which pioneers from various countries throughout the world were striving to develop understanding, friendship, cooperation and inter-faith dialogue between Muslims and Christians. The co-editor of the book Dr. Joseph Victor Edwin SJ shared the efforts that were put in to publish a book that can bring about cross-cultural religious literacy having deeper understanding of the beliefs and practices of Christians and Muslims to have an informed engagement with each other. Responding to the presentations, Dr. Jerome Stanislaus D’Souza SJ, the President of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, appreciated the efforts of the book to strengthen the friendship between Muslims and Christians. Dr. Syed Zafar Mahmood, the founder of Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI) and Inter-Faith Coalition for Peace (ICP), also shared his efforts at inter-faith dialogue and training Muslim and Christian youth for competitive examinations. The meeting ended with a call for all participants to be Ambassadors of Peace in the world.
Denzil Fernandes SJ