PHILADELPHIA — Roughly 500 people of different faiths — Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and others — crowded into St. Francis Inn’s courtyard last month to engage in conversation, reflection and action during the 11th annual Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation. The peace walk is not a march, protest or demonstration. Rather, it serves as a walking …
Formation Update: Interfaith Dialogue Highlights Annual Gathering
MARRIOTTSVILLE, Md. — Seventeen friars in initial formation, along with six solemnly-professed friars, hunkered down during the recent polar vortex to take part in the annual formation intersession, held from Jan. 4 to 8 at the Bon Secours Spiritual Center. As in years past, the gathering was marked by a great building up of fraternity among the men in initial …
Gene Pistacchio Leads Secular Franciscan Retreats
This past spring and fall, I was privileged to offer two weekend retreats for the Secular Franciscan Order. The first, held at Mt. Alvernia Retreat Center in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., for the Our Lady of the Angels Region, included OFS communities in Manhattan, Staten Island, Yonkers, and Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and in North Jersey. The second retreat, held at the …