On November 30, 2023, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative hosted an Aurora Dialogues Online event titled ‘Faith in Humanity: Religion as a Uniting Force for Good,’ organized in partnership with The Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. “So much has changed since the last time that we gathered for Aurora Dialogues just a few months ago – sadly, much of it for the worse. The need for humanitarian aid, intervention, and attention feels higher than it has in the recent past. In a world so riddled with these types of divisions and conflicts it’s essential to remind ourselves of the power of faith to bring us together,” said Armine Afeyan, Executive Director of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, as she welcomed the participants.
The discussion, which explored whether religion has the potential to become a uniting force to remind people across the globe of their shared humanity, was moderated by Dr. Azza Karam, Professor of Religion and Development at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Among the speakers were Dr. Tom Catena, Chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and Medical Director of the Mother of Mercy Hospital; Dr. Sarah AK Ahmed, Tanenbaum Peacemaker in Action and Director of Program Operations at Preemptive Love; Debra Boudreaux, Chief Executive Officer of Tzu Chi; Ruth Messinger, Global Ambassador of the American Jewish World Service, and Msgr. Robert Vitillo, Aurora Prize Expert Panel Member and Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission.
Dr. Tom Catena, who has dedicated his life to providing medical care to the population of Sudan’s war-ravaged Nuba Mountains as the only surgeon permanently based in that region, talked about the tradition of caring for the sick and needy that historically has been one of the keystones of the Christian faith. He also noted that the trend continued today. “It is estimated that 40% of healthcare in Eastern Africa is provided by Christian missionary institutions. Let us not forget that we are not heirs to a soft, milquetoast faith, but one that was built on the blood and sacrifices of martyrs and heroic people. <…> I say unequivocally that my religious faith is the major reason why I stayed in this war-torn, remote region for so many years. I and my co-religionists, we take our cues directly from Our Lord Jesus, who we also refer to as ‘The Divine Physician,’” explained Dr. Catena.
It is no secret that faith-based charities led to the formation of the modern humanitarian system, added Msgr. Robert Vitillo, who pointed out the successful record of faith-based humanitarian intervention that dates back centuries. Change is always inevitable and often welcome, but the fundamental principles of doing good have always been there, he insisted. “I’m not really sure that we necessarily need to find new ways to ensure a better future. <…> I believe that faith traditions have been doing this since the beginning of time and need to continue to promote the values, the recognition, the respect, and the dignity of each and every person from conception to natural death, as well as to care for all creation and worship God as Creator of the universe in order to ensure a better future for generations to come,” said Msgr. Vitillo.
Ruth Messinger did not quite agree with his position, saying that “people of certain age should pay some attention to what’s being developed newly.” She also invited the audience to take a closer look at the origin story of non-religious humanitarian agencies, since many of them surprisingly have their roots in something quite familiar. “The organizations that we all recognize, some of them huge and very powerful, so-called secular organizations, very often formally have had their beginnings in faith traditions. <…> That instinct – and now I speak to my own tradition – that recognizing equal humanity in every person and working with them because you know what it was like, you know either personally, or historically, or you know maybe ‘vibrationally’ what it was like, what it is like for other people to be poor, to be enslaved, to be oppressed – that is the fundamental teaching of Judaism, to pursue justice and help the other and the stranger, because that was once you,” explained Mrs. Messinger.
Religion has the power to serve as a full ethical framework that guides an individual in their lives, and as such can be used to create a better world for all communities, argued Dr. Sarah AK Ahmed. “People have commitment to their religion and to the religious voices that they follow. <…> Having all these voices when it comes to justice, to equality, to advocacy, and emphasizing certain principles that we aspire to or look for when we’re mobilizing a community – compassion, equality, equity, – and kind of motivating our religious leaders and community leaders to pull people together from that perspective, from that background, has had an amazing deal of influence on the success of our projects,” said Dr. Ahmed whose organization, Preemptive Love, has worked in the Middle East and beyond.
Debra Boudreaux of Tzu Chi, a Buddhist humanitarian foundation, talked about the challenges one’s religious principles may present when they are determined to help those who might not share them. As an example of this controversy, she cited Buddhist charity kitchens – should they only serve plant-based in accordance with the ‘ahimsa’ concept of doing no harm or provide the people in need with more substantial, non-vegetarian dishes? But in any case, actively helping is always better than doing nothing in fear of not doing enough. “If you don’t do anything useful in your life, it passes in vain. But if you keep working for the betterment of mankind, yours will be a great life. From the vegetarian movement, what the Buddhists are doing – we go to shelters, we provide food to improve the vulnerable people’s health, to guide them to eat healthy, to guide them to balance their diet. <…> We keep them warm, and that warmth they can carry with them,” noted Debra Boudreaux.
In conclusion of the event, Dr. Azza Karam thanked the speakers and expressed her hope that all of them would be able to continue their journey of engagement together. “Each one of you exemplifies precisely what we need. We are facing a technological future in which many, many things will be done by machines. What will keep us different is our humanity, our faith, and the way in which we honor the Creator and creation, and we cannot do it alone, no matter how big our institutions, how much our financial resources, how extensive our size,” said Dr. Azza Karam.
You can watch the full video of the discussion in English below.