Spreading the Good News
Two weeks ago, Claire Soignet, a former intern at Religions for Peace, called us back with the story of an incredible global journey that five young people will take this summer. It’s called the InterFaith Journey.
Rafaëlla Scheer, Victor Grezes, Samuel Grzybowski, Josselin Rieth, and Soufiane Torkmani are the 2013-14 InterFaith Tour participants.Claire now works for Coexist, which is sponsoring the Tour. She said that between July 2013 and June 2014, five students – a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, an atheist, and an agnostic – have decided to undertake a one-year journey on behalf of interfaith initiatives. This project was created at a time when religions are more and more subject to fundamentalism and used to pursue political objectives.
They vow to foster already existing interreligious projects and to help close the divide between religion and society by promoting the good interfaith work they witness. The trip’s global objective is to get familiar with the many interfaith activities and initiatives in countries everywhere, starting with the ones they visit. They will keep an eye out for good practices.
From the beginning the project has had an international dimension, where actual interaction provides an opportunity for Active Coexistence.
Finally, they hope to highlight and focus on the strength and energy of youth, showing how they can organize themselves autonomously to reach their goals, warding off prejudice against a generation which is indeed full of promise.
They will crisscross five continents featuring two kinds of stays. They will have one-month-visits in key regions of interfaith dialogue (Israel and Palestine, Turkey, India, Malaysia, and the U.S.). The rest of the journey will be a road-trip.
They plan to start their adventure in July 2013 and return in early May 2014. They will then spend two months in France, sharing what they’ve learned.
Next year and every year the InterFaith Tour will be repeated with a new team.