Around 120 pilgrims - in person or online - attended the 36th Congress of International Association of Religious Freedom (IARF) in Cluj/Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Romania, September 4-6, 2023.
Founded in 1900, IARF’s latest quadrennial Congress was Covid-delayed by a year, but reactivated by the great good sense of the Hungarian Unitarian Church leadership’s invitation to Kolozsvár. One impetus was to fill the breach left by the (much lamented) demise of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) and the UU Partner Church Council (UUPCC). The need to meet regularly to deepen relationships and theological exchanges with progressive colleagues committed to religious freedom and global peace is strongly felt. In addition to Unitarians, UUs, and European Free Churches, IARF includes strong historical participation by Japanese Buddhists and Shintos from Risshō Kōsei Kai and the Tsubaki Grand Shrine. This year, Iranian Sufis, Zoroastrians, Jains, Jews, and Kenyan Christians were also represented.
IARF’s feminist corollary, the International Association of Liberal Religious Women (IALRW), per tradition, met for the following two days, September 7-8, attracting around 30 women, including several members zooming in from Muslim and Buddhist Malaysia.
ICUUW was represented at these assemblies by Board Member Gizella Nagy; Fourth Convocation Planning Committee Members Krisztina Sándor, Rev. Zsuzsanna Bartha, and Julie Steinbach; and Executive Director Zsófia Sztranyiczki, who participated in a panel addressing the Ukraine humanitarian response by Providence, the charitable arm of the Hungarian Unitarian Church (HUC). A Ukrainian refugee family housed by the HUC has been helping Providence in supporting their displaced Ukrainian counterparts, and their presence in the panel was inspirational to all. Gratitude was again expressed to ICUUW for the $100,000+ raised for those fleeing the war; the emotional presentation by this family helped prompt Risshō Kōsei Kai (an IARF founding organization from Japan) to announce further support for Providence’s continuing work, in addition to the $25,000 received by the beginning of the conference.
The theme of the IARF conference, “Faith and Reconciliation,” elicited an array of responsive presentations. In the opening small groups, personal examples of reconciliation challenges were shared. To the whole Congress assembly, speakers wrestled with the theme through a variety of lenses:
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Rev. Norbert Rácz, lead minister of the First Unitarian Church of Kolozsvár, localized the issue in Transylvania: “The ever-changing liquidity of history is part of our character, rooted in the ideas of tolerance and acceptance.”
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Rev. John Young from the U.S. shared his gleanings from work with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, highlighting the African concept of Ubuntu: the interdependence of humans and the acknowledgment of one's responsibility to their fellow humans and to the world around them.
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Prof. George Williams, in “Remembering History as a Prelude to Reconciliation,” included the post-communist development of the Transylvanian partnerships with North American churches.
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ICUUW Global Sister Prof. Kathy Matsui, speaking on “Reconciliation and Peace Building in North East Asia,” shared examples of trust-building conferences between Japanese and Korean youth, emphasizing that peace education continues to be needed at all levels of civil society.
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Rev. Dr. Rosemary Bray McNatt, in probing “The Dangers Without, The Dangers Within,” posited that reconciliation is NOT possible until true healing is addressed.
Young women offered memorable contributions:
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ICUUW Young Adult Leader participant Sian Evans and her colleague Laura Davies from Wales shared a Full Body Prayer for opening worship on the second day.
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Two Jain women, Tanya and Sakshi, presented us each with an individual ritual blessing on our foreheads.
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Jahnvi Gupta from India received the IARF Youth Leadership Award for her peace initiatives, interfaith interaction, and community activism projects she has led.
From three days of IARF time in the Unitarian High School, the IALRW conference moved to the more intimate and impressively restored House of Religious Freedom across the street. Formerly the palatial residence of the Bishop of the HUC, the beautifully appointed and comfortable setting fit the more congenial gathering of the women, sitting in a circle. Longtime IALRW activists zoomed in from Malaysia and Japan, including outgoing IALRW President Prof. Kamar Oniah Kamaruzanam in Kuala Lumpur and her close colleague there, Buddhist Missionary Society President Loh Pai Ling. ICUUW sister and IALRW stalwart Peggy Kanada in Tokyo made significant contributions to needed bylaw changes.
Rev. Dr. Esther Suter from Switzerland was elected the new president, the gavel that was passed was actually the exquisite Japanese lacquered music box that was first bequeathed to IARLW in 1984…. We listened to the delicate tones of “Sakura,” a song about the famed cherry blossoms. Also elected for the next four-year term of the IALRW Council were Loh Pai Ling and Rev. Zsuzsanna Bartha.
September 2024
At the end of the IARF Congress, HUC Bishop István Kovács handed the mike to Fourth Convocation President Krisztina Sándor for the opportunity to invite all to the Fourth ICUUW Convocation exactly a year later – September 5-8, 2024. Likewise, the invitation was repeated at the end of the IALRW session – with hearty echoes from the 20 Hungarian women present. (Prof. Kathy Matsui later reported that Michiko, age 81, a Hiroshima survivor, was so inspired by the gathering that she plans to join us in 2024.) Prior to the IARF Congress, the HUC organized a three-day Unitarian heritage tour to historic sites and village churches. In 2024, a similar pre-Convocation tour will be offered to selected Transylvanian sites.