Prof. Desmond Cahill

From Moonee Valley Weekly

PROFESSOR Desmond Cahill’s passion for spreading goodwill and the celebration of religious and cultural diversity is without question.

The 64-year-old Flemington resident, leader of intercultural studies at RMIT University, has for decades worked with waves of immigrants trying to integrate into their new home here.

This career started after another ended, with the former Catholic priest choosing his wife and a family over the priesthood, a decision he says is the hardest he has had to make.

“I had to make a choice. I made the choice and the rest is history. That was the most difficult decision I ever had to make. [But] it’s not one that I regret.”

Professor Cahill recalls the first wave of Italian and Maltese immigrants who ventured to Australia in the mid-’60s and needed support.

He says his pathway from priest to professor was logical because of his background working with migrants. He has worked at RMIT for decades, predominantly looking at the integration of ethnic communities, such as Latin Americans.

One of his main roles has been developing multicultural studies so that others could go and work with ethnic communities, and training others to teach Languages Other Than English courses in schools.

A Vietnamese program focusing on the integration of Vietnamese into Australian society started in the 1980s. It led to RMIT establishing a campus in Ho Chi Min City.

“It’s always brought me great satisfaction in working with immigrant communities and with immigrants and refugees who want to update their qualifications in Australia or train for new roles,” Professor Cahill says.

As well as his work in intercultural studies, Professor Cahill is chairman of the Australian chapter for Religions for Peace International, the world’s largest interfaith organisation.

In 2006, he led Melbourne’s successful bid to host last year’s Parliament of the World’s Religions, the world’s largest interfaith gathering, which attracted 6500 delegates.

“It’s to bring the religions together in understanding and harmony and to develop joint actions on addressing the world’s major issues in climate change, social cohesion in multifaith societies, food and water for everyone, global peace.”

Awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia this year for his service to intercultural education, Professor Cahill says he was humbled by the honour.

“It’s an award to me, but it’s also an award to my RMIT colleagues and to my colleagues in the interfaith movement throughout Australia and the world.”

Professor Cahill says his work in promoting goodwill has given him great satisfaction.

“[The best part] is bringing people together, especially in Australia, through the whole multifaith movement and bringing about harmony between the different multicultural communities and between the different religions.”

Click here to read the entire article.

Dr. Sakena Yacoobi

Revolutionary peacemaker Dr. Sakena Yacoobi has granted an interview with the Council. Dr. Yacoobi is the founder and executive director of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), which was established in 1995 in Afghanistan as the Taliban were closing schools for women and girls. AIL was founded to fight oppressive traditions that left women and girls uneducated and put their lives at risk. Today, AIL currently serves 350,000 women and children each year in and has provided education, training and health services to over 7.1 million Afghans since 1995.

Read more about Sakena’s inspiring work by clicking here.

Watch the inspiring documentary on Sakena’s work here

Join us at PeaceNext to submit your question to Dr. Yacoobi!

From The Huffington Post

International religious heavyweights Karen Armstrong, Huston Smith and Rabbi David Rosen converged on Dearborn, Michigan, for three days of work with grassroots activists to combat bigotry and push toward peace in the face of rising fear and conflict. While many appeals at the conference were grand and global in scope, the freshest news was the simplest and smallest idea presented to the 200 participants.

How small? How simple? One friend at a time. A network of women from southeast Michigan is launching a multimedia effort to collect and share individual real-life stories of cross-cultural friendship. Called “Friendship and Faith,” the project already has collected stories from around the world and has drawn the attention of Jewish, Muslim and secular media.

Starting small with individual friendship was a central theme in talks beamed into the conference by the three international speakers. From London, author and peace activist Karen Armstrong applauded the “Religion, Conflict and Peace” conference’s slogan: “Walking the Talk to Compassion and Harmony.” Speaking from a huge video screen, Armstrong said, “Now the challenge is implementing the compassion ideal in practical terms that will make a difference in the 21st century.”

From his California home, author and educator Huston Smith said that most Americans refuse to spend the time to build meaningful relationships. “When we greet a passerby,” he said, “we smile and go on our way, but real engagements are involving and open-ended. We pause, we linger and we share with each other.”

From Jerusalem, Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee described his own recent peacemaking work with the new Council of Religious Leaders of the Holy Land, founded in 2007 to include Christian, Muslim, Jewish and many minority religious groups in Israel and Palestine. The main goal of the new council is building relationships between religious leaders who have been isolated from each other for many years, Rosen said.

“In the Holy Land, everybody sees themselves as vulnerable, and everyone sees themselves as the victim,” Rosen said. “Palestinians see themselves as vulnerable and victims in light of Israeli power. Israelis see themselves as vulnerable and victims in a hostile sea of Arab power. And, Arabs see themselves as vulnerable and victims in the onslaught of Western consumerism and power. … So, there is a natural tendency for isolation and withdrawal. Often, religion becomes part and parcel of the process … a part of our demonization of the other.”

The June 11-13 conference was held at Henry Ford Community College in the heart of the most influential Arab-American Muslim community in the U.S. About 200 men and women registered to attend talks, films, workshops and discussion forums. The conference especially drew educators, peace activists, writers, religious leaders and men and women involved in grassroots nonprofits promoting diversity.

Click here to read the entire article.

The Dalai Lama at the 2009 Parliament

Do you ever feel angry or outraged? —Kantesh Guttal, PUNE, INDIA
Oh, yes, of course. I’m a human being. Generally speaking, if a human being never shows anger, then I think something’s wrong. He’s not right in the brain. [Laughs.]

How do you stay so optimistic and faithful when there is so much hate in the world? —Joana Cotar, FRANKFURT
I always look at any event from a wider angle. There’s always some problem, some killing, some murder or terrorist act or scandal everywhere, every day. But if you think the whole world is like that, you’re wrong. Out of 6 billion humans, the troublemakers are just a handful.

How has the role set out for you changed since you first came to be the Dalai Lama? —Andy Thomas, CARMARTHEN, WALES
I became the Dalai Lama not on a volunteer basis. Whether I was willing or not, I [had to study] Buddhist philosophy like an ordinary monk student in these big monastic institutions. Eventually I realized I have a responsibility. Sometimes it is difficult, but where there is some challenge, that is also truly an opportunity to serve more.

Sri Swami Mayatitananda Saraswati, also known as Mother Maya,is currently traveling through Canada as part of her Living Ahimsa World Tour 2009-2012. Her tour began at the 2009 Parliament, upon completion of the 108th Peace Mandala at the event. Since then, Mother Maya has toured the United States and will now visit 13 Canadian cities through July.

Mother Maya is a healer, educator, and author and founded the Wise Earth School of Aryuveda. One of the few women to be ordained as a Vedic monk (Swami), Mother Maya promotes ahimsa (nonviolence) and its ecological importance. Since her creation of the Living Ahimsa Foundation in 2001, Mother Maya has reached out to the global community to “transform violence, disease and despair into harmony, wellness and joy.”

Learn more at www.mypeacevow.org

From The Moonee Valley Leader

Professor Desmond Cahill

WORKING for religious moderation rather than sidelining faiths is the best way of “dealing with religious-inspired terrorism”, a Flemington intercultural education expert says.

Prof Desmond Cahill is one of three Moonee Valley residents named in the Queen’s Birthday honours list, all receiving Medals of the Order of Australia (OAMs).

Prof Cahill, who has led intercultural studies at RMIT University in the CBD since 1993, was awarded “for service to intercultural education and to the interfaith movement”.

He said he was a “little bit surprised, (given) there are many deserving people who don’t receive such an award”.

The former Catholic priest organised the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne last December, attended by about 6500 delegates.

Prof Cahill, 64, said his passion for intercultural education started when he worked as a priest in the northern and western suburbs for six years in the 1970s.

He was appointed to RMIT in 1979 to develop multicultural studies so people were trained to work with ethnic communities including migrants and refugees.

Prof Cahill also developed training to teach English as a second language and languages other than English in schools.

He said fostering intercultural relationships was vital.

Read the full article here.

by Robert A. Cathey, Professor of Theology at McCormick Theological Seminary

The presence and witness of indigenous religious leaders from Australia (the so-called ‘Aboriginals’), New Zealand (the Moira), Pacific Island nations, Africa, Asia, the Artic, North and South America was one of the most distinctive dimensions of the fifth Parliament of the World’s Religions that occurred in the Melbourne, Australia Convention and Exhibition Centre, December3 – 9, 2009. With strong financial support from the Australian government, the regional government of Victoria and the city of Melbourne, every plenary session and program session of this Parliament began with recognition of the indigenous ancestors and elders who cared for the region of Victoria and Melbourne before the arrival of European colonizers in the 1700s.

Click here to read the full article

With over 8000 participants from over 80 nations, you may wonder if any of your neighbors are attending the Melbourne Parliament. Fortunately, our Facebook Group offers a convenient Discussion Board where you can step in and introduce yourself.  Whether you’re from Canada or Cambodia or anywhere in between, feel free to speak up and make plans with other registrants from around the world.  The discussion can range from Pre-Parliament events to opportunities in Melbourne and beyond. To join the conversation, click here.

Few aspects of religious experience are more universal than personal testimony. The stories that have emerged from past Parliaments speak to the importance of the transformative work that occurs at these historic events.  To read personal stories from attendees of past Parliaments, click here.

If you approach one of our helpful volunteers during the 2009 Parliament, you can rest assured that they’re volunteering in all fairness. The Parliament of Religions has contracted to purchase Fairtrade Certified Cotton that meets the Global Organic Textile Standard (G.O.T.S.)  What this means is that cotton farmers are fairly compensated and that items are printed with water-based pigments and azo free inks. The t-shirts are produced in Kolkata, India in collaboration with a cotton farmers’ co-op called “Chetna Organic.”

The Parliament of Religions Volunteer T-Shirt

To learn more about G.O.T.S., click here.

To learn more about Chetna Organic, click here.

To register for the 2009 Parliament (where you can see the volunteers — and their t-shirts — in action), click here.