Interfaith group, founded by Cardinal Bernardin, marks 40th anniversary

Forty years ago, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin brought together religious leaders to get to know one another, to develop greater understanding between and among their communities and to join their voices on issues of common concern, from racism and segregation in the community to violence to the need to support underserved neighborhoods.

The Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago celebrated that legacy with a Sept. 27 breakfast at the Chicago Hilton.

Auxiliary Bishop Robert Casey, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, reflected on Cardinal Bernardin’s contributions at the event.

“I was ordained a priest by Cardinal Bernardin in May of 1994,” Bishop Casey said. “Recalling the cardinal’s homily that day, he challenged those of us about to be ordained to become spokespersons for unity. Cardinal Bernardin said to us, ‘You and I are called to be spokesmen for unity in the church wherever we are assigned, in the inner city or the outer city, in an ethnic parish or a suburban parish. Wherever and whenever and however we work as God’s servants, we are to serve the unity of the community.’ Seeking unity, building bridges, finding common ground … these virtues defined Cardinal Bernardin.”

Those virtues are what led Cardinal Bernardin to gather the council together and to serve as its first president, he said.

“It is no surprise, then, that Cardinal Bernardin became a founding member of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago and its first president,” Bishop Casey said. “[Cardinal] Bernardin had the rare gift of being able to bring people together, people with different viewpoints and life experiences, and help them find common ground. Helping us to focus on what unites us, rather than what divides us, and making possible the advancement of initiatives that could assist all to flourish, especially those most in need.

“Today, I encourage all of our faith partners to take up Cardinal Bernardin’s vision and continue the effort to seek common ground so that together we may advance the common good.”

Also honored were the Obama Foundation for its My Brother’s Keeper program, Jerry Reinsdorf, former CLRMC president Barbara Abarajano and ABC-7 reporter and anchor Ravi Baichwal, who emceed the event.

Former executive director Rev. Stan Davis said the council simply would not have existed without Cardinal Bernardin’s initiative.

Cardinal Bernardin had come to Chicago in 1982 from South Carolina, where Catholics make up a small minority of people. In Chicago, where Catholics are the largest religious denomination, the media always came to him for any stories with a religious topic, Davis said.

“He wanted to have other voices that we could bring to public discussion,” Davis said. “Back then, religion was pretty siloed. We all sort of existed in our own lane in the highway. What he wanted was to bring people together across Christian and Jewish faith lines, broadly defined.”

While the first members of the council came from Christian and Jewish religious traditions, over time the council grew to include Islamic communities, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and many others, said Daniel Olsen, director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

The council’s long history and the depth of the relationships that have been fostered set the Chicago area apart when it comes to interreligious relationships and cooperation, he said,

All members subscribe to a set of core convictions, which includes the inalienable dignity and value of all people; the interconnectedness of all people; and the need to care for the earth, our common home, and to work for justice.

“The genius of the council is that people get to know one another apart from the services and the pageantry and we can find those things we agree on and speak to those and act on those,” Davis said. “We can also formally and informally find out those things we disagree on for better understanding.”

Tensions do arise, Olsen said, including over the war in Gaza. However, the council’s policy is to weigh in only on issues taking place within the Chicago metropolitan area, and only to issue statements with the unanimous support of council members.

Bishop Simon Gordon, president of the council and president of Triedstone Church of Chicago, said that the council has allowed religious leaders to learn more about one another and their practices.

That has reinforced his belief that all faiths, indeed all people, have much in common.

“We’re more alike than we are different,” Gordon said. “Our practices, our beliefs and our desires for outcomes are more alike than they are different.”