Project Aladdin Chair Leah Pisar and Executive Director Abe Radkin were received by His Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, in his Istanbul residence, to discuss Project Aladdin’s interfaith initiative, Know the Religion of Thy Neighbor.
Following the launch of the eighth edition of Project Aladdin’s international summer university program in July, His Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch and the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, granted an audience to Project Aladdin’s Leah Pisar and Abe Radkin.
His Holiness spoke about his grave concerns for peace in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and his solidarity with the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Ukrainian people, who have been severely tested by the unjust war of aggression. The Ecumenical Patriarch expressed hope that the war would soon end, and that peace would be restored in Ukraine.
His Holiness, who was among the first faith leaders to support Project Aladdin’s “Know the Religion of Thy Neighbor” initiative, reiterated his strong belief in the importance of “knowing the religion of the Other.” The 300-page book came into being after five years of work by a committee of religious thinkers representing the different denominations of the three monotheistic religions. This book has received the backing of many faith leaders and is a textbook that young theologians can use to understand how the other monotheistic religions define their faiths.