April 8, 2026

Dear Friends,

We began a one-year observance of our twenty-fifth anniversary on September 8, 2025. It will conclude on September 8, 2026. 

As part of our observance, we began, on September 21, 2025, a year of reflections on the heart of the Interfaith Peace Project – the Interpath Principles. The reflections are being sent to you on the eighth and twenty-first of each month. If you would like to view the previous reflections, you can find them on our blog at: interfaithpeaceproject.org.

If you have anything that you would like to share, please contact:

Thomas P. Bonacci, C.P.
peace@thomaspbonacci.net
925-787-9279

Adobe Stock 628872780 By Nataliya

THE SIXTH INTERPATH PRINCIPLE
INTERCONNECTED, INTERDEPENDENT, INTERRELATED

We delight in the presence of one another.

COMMENTARY

We recognize the dignity, diversity, and uniqueness of everyone we meet. We seek to grow in wisdom and knowledge. Our experience has taught us to be open to everyone as best we can. We do not expect anyone to conform to any particular beliefs. We invite each person to share their gifts and authentic selves with us. The Ancient Teaching rings true: “I am a better person because I met you.” 

REFLECTION

Three virtues mark the development and progression of Interfaith love, understanding, and cooperation. These three markers represent a necessary development in how human persons might respond to and interact with one another. Let us briefly consider these three aspects of Interfaith encounter and engagement:

(1) TOLERANCE – There was a time when tolerance was a radical breakthrough in the complex world of faith, spirituality, and religion. Some thought it was erroneous to tolerate the faith tradition of the religious “other” since error has no rights. Tolerance permits the other to exist. From any perspective, tolerance is now an important starting point in the practice of Interfaith engagement.

(2) RESPECT – Respect is the essential virtue. Respect recognizes the dignity of the religious “other” who becomes a companion on the journey. The religious “other” becomes a companion deserving respect and kindness. It is a blessing and privilege to be graced with this companion.  

(3) DELIGHT – Delight is the sign indicating the deeper practice of interfaith spirituality. The sounds, prayers, rituals, and teachings of the faith traditions of humankind delight the soul, transform life, and inspire with insight and wisdom. Above all, we delight in the people who practice their faith with sincerity and love. The differences are not a source of conflict and division but a cause for delight and mutuality.

The Faith Traditions of the World invite us to walk in the way of compassion. There are deep spiritual traditions born from the various Faith Traditions. These rich and diverse spiritualities invite us to realize that all people and Nature are interconnected, interdependent, and interrelated. This dynamic and essential relationship requires that we live lives of deep compassion and empathy.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

Karen Armstrong
The Compassion Project

Blessings to you, Beloved Community, for your work in the pursuit of interfaith peace, understanding, and respect. The most important interfaith encounters we have are with newfound companions as we journey together on the road of life.