Berkley Center

Writing a Daily Comment for the New Yorker, Senior Fellow Paul Elie reflects on how nearly a fifth of the voting delegates at the Catholic Church's October Synod were women. He calls this "a proportion without precedent" and ponders whether this will have any lasting effect on the outcomes of the gathering.

An October conference on "The Intersections of Faith and Development in Bangladesh," co-sponsored by the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) and Brac University, received coverage from outlets such as Business Standard and Dhaka Tribune. This was part of the joint WFDD-Brac-Berkley Center Bangladesh: Religious Dimensions of Development and Social Cohesion project.

Senior Research Fellow Peter Mandaville delivered opening remarks at an October 30 conversation with a delegation from the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, co-hosted by the United States Institute of Peace, the Atlantic Council, and Razom for Ukraine.

Senior Fellow José Casanova will participate in a November 6 conference at Luiss University in Rome on "Religions on War and Peace." Part of the Luiss Religions in Dialogue Forum, this event will gather students, researchers, and representatives of religious communities to discuss how religion as a factor of identity can become an instrument of division, but also a ground for dialogue and peace.