china connections - Nazareth College

INTERFAITH | ideas
Footsteps to the Future
Many of us recognize the expression “walking a mile
in another man’s shoes”—the notion that understanding
stems from sympathy and empathy toward
others. Recently, a delegation from Nazareth College
decided to fill some big shoes and walk a great deal more
than a mile. The group—comprising Nazareth staff and faculty,
and Rochester community professionals, historians, and religious
leaders—participated in a venture called Walking in the Footsteps
of the Prophets.
The program—in its inaugural year and
currently open to members of the Nazareth
and greater Rochester communities—
involves an annual interfaith journey to the
Holy Land and Turkey to explore, study, and
build connections among Judaism, Islam,
and Christianity, the three Abrahamic faiths.
The 13-member delegation began the twoweek
trip to Israel, Palestine, and Turkey in
late May. Three of Nazareth College’s senior
faculty members organized and led the
trip: Muhammad Shafiq, Ph.D., executive
director of the Center for Interfaith Studies
and Dialogue (CISD); Susan
Nowak ’77, Ph.D., S.S.J., chair
Modern Muslim woman. of the department of religious
studies; and George Eisen,
Ph.D., executive director of
the Center for International Education (CIE).
Each day the delegation traveled to sacred and
historically important sites such as the Sea of
Galilee, where the Sermon on the Mount is thought
to have taken place; the Dead Sea, near which the
eponymous scrolls were found; as well as the Hagia
Sofia and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Shafiq,
Nowak, or Eisen provided context beforehand
about the sites—their historical significance
and reasons why the group was visiting.
Combining the resources of three Nazareth departments
helped to develop a unique program that
focused not only on visiting sites, but on strategic
alliances with different people and institutions. For
by Sofia Tokar
example, the group met the mayor of Nazareth and heard lectures
by scholars from Galilee College (in Israel’s northern pastoral
region) and Al-Quds University (an Arab university on the
outskirts of East Jerusalem). Topics were inspired by and specific
to the various locations. While in Caesarea, the group delved
into the role of Herod in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
faiths; later in Istanbul, the members discussed Sufism in Islam.
Shafiq underscores the program’s uniqueness, explaining,
“There are many trips through Israel and Palestine—usually
either academic or spiritual. Ours incorporates a scholarly approach
with spiritual strength to have a deeper knowledge of
the Abrahamic faiths and to understand the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict in the region.”
The variety of people and perspectives is also what impressed
Barbara Warner, a member of the delegation and coordinator for
Christian formation at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rochester,
N.Y. “Dr. Eisen, Dr. Shafiq, and Dr. Nowak should be commended
for their vision,” she shares. “As a result of this trip, I feel my
mind, spirit, and heart opening increasingly to the Abrahamic
peoples. Hopefully we can come to celebrate both our differences
and our similarities. An experience like this reinforces my faith in
the wonder of humanity.”
The Sea of Galilee.
24 CONNECTIONS | WINTER 2010/2011 www.naz.edu