 |
Patrick McCollum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 11, 1950 |
Reverend Patrick McCollum (born April 11, 1950) is an interfaith chaplain, spiritual mentor, and peace counselor.
|
Patrick McCollum | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Born | April 11, 1950 |
Reverend Patrick McCollum (born April 11, 1950) is an interfaith chaplain, spiritual mentor, and peace counselor.
Before moving into international peace work, McCollum was a jeweler and designer, with his work being sold by retailers such as Fred Segal, Henry Bendels, Billy Martins, the Forum shops at Caesars Palace, Boogies Diner, and Barney’s of New York. Some of his works have been commissioned by the British Royal Family and the White House. [1]
H.E. Rev. Patrick McCollum was ordained in 1971 and has served as president of Our Lady of the Wells Church, a California Non-Profit Religious Corporation. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Peace Service Center in Katmandu, Nepal, and has sat on the National Advisory Council of American’s United for the Separation of Church and State for nearly two decades. In 2008, Reverend McCollum served as an Advisor to the United States Commission on Civil Rights on a special report to Congress and the President of the United States, outlining problems and solutions to religious discrimination in U.S. prisons.
In 2002 McCollum became the executive director of the National Correctional Chaplaincy Directors Association, and since 2004 also serves as the chaplaincy liaison for the American Academy of Religion.
He has served as the National Prison Chaplaincy Affairs Coordinator for the Lady Liberty League since 2001, and has served as the International Interfaith Ambassador for Circle Sanctuary since 2010.
From 2005–2013 McCollum served as director of chaplaincy for Cherry Hill Seminary. He has also served as co-founder and co-facilitator of the G-Card program for the American Academy of Religion. McCollum served on the Executive Council of the American Correctional Chaplains Association, and as the Minority Faith Issues chair.
On February 5, 2008, Rev. McCollum testified before the U.S Commission on Civil Rights, [2] and his remarks were widely quoted in the Commission's report entitled "Enforcing Religious Freedom in Prison". [3]
McCollum met and befriended Jane Goodall, the protector of the gorilla population in Gombi, Africa at the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona. Together they formed an alliance for ecological peace that now includes Goodall, H. H. Puja Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Vandana Shiva, and H. H. Amrta Suryananda Maha Rája.
In 2010 Rev. Patrick McCollum attended the first World Forum of Spiritual Culture in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event drew spiritual luminaries from across the world. During the Forum, McCollum addressed the Kazakhstan Parliament on the subject of "World Peace and Creating a New Narrative for Humanity.
McCollum was invited by the Board of Directors for the Association for Global New Thought (AGENT) to join the Dalai Lama’s International Peace Council and the Association for Global New Thought as a core group leader to help facilitate a world event in Rome, Italy, called Awakened World 2012. The event was attended by many political, religious and human rights leaders in the world.
On October 14, 2015, Rev. Patrick McCollum was elected as vice president of Children of the Earth (COE), a United Nations Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) founded in 2001 by its president, Nina Meyerhof. COE is a non-profit organization that "educates and mentors youth leaders around the world by inspiring and uniting them, through personal and social transformation, to create a peaceful and sustainable world."
McCollum received the Mahatma Gandhi Award at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. in 2010 for the advancement of religious pluralism, and the Ralph Bunche International Peace Award in March 2016 during the UN Conference on the Status of Women.
On February 1, 2020, Dr. Jane Goodall, nominated Patrick McCollum for the position of Messenger of Peace for the United Nations. 2020 marks the 50th year of McCollum’s public commitment to working for world peace and planetary sustainability.
In a Facebook video, Dr. Jane Goodall said, “I nominate him [Patrick McCollum] now for UN Messenger of Peace. He has done so much for peace on this planet. For these past fifty years, he has been standing up for indigenous rights and for the rights of women and for the rights of different religions to be heard; for understanding between people of different races. And, in fact, there’s very few social issues that he hasn’t been involved in.” [4]
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric, or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution, or a private chapel. The term chaplaincy refers to the chapel, facility or department in which one or more chaplains carry out their role.
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs.
There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another conference on its centenary in 1993. This led to a new series of conferences under the official title Parliament of the World's Religions with the same goal of trying to create a global dialogue of faiths.
Interfaith Alliance is a national interfaith organization in the United States founded in 1994 to counteract the religious right. Its stated goal is to protect faith and freedom by respecting individual rights, preserving the boundaries between religion and government, and uniting diverse voices to protect democracy and to challenge extremism and build common ground.
Risshō Kōsei Kai (立正佼成会); until June 1960, 大日本立正交成会 is a Japanese new religious movement founded in 1938 by Nikkyō Niwano and Myōkō Naganuma. Risshō Kōsei Kai is organized as a lay Buddhist movement, which branched off from the older Reiyūkai, and is primarily focused around the Lotus Sutra and veneration of ancestors.
Kimberly Ann Bobo is an American religious and workers' rights activist, and current executive director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP), a non-partisan advocacy coalition based in Richmond, Virginia. Bobo is a nationally known promoter of social justice who leads VICPP's advocacy, outreach, and development work. She wrote a book on faith-based organizing entitled Lives Matter: A Handbook for Christian Organizing.
The Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA) is an Israeli-based non-profit organization. Its primary purpose is to foster dialogue between different religious groups within the Holy Land. This is done on a grassroots level throughout Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
The Temple of Understanding is an interfaith organization founded in 1960 by Juliet Hollister and located in New York City.
The Baháʼí Faith first arrived in Scotland during the first decade of the 20th century, and in 1913 'Abdu’l-Bahá made a three-day visit to Edinburgh at the invitation of Mrs Jane E. Whyte, wife of Dr Alexander Whyte, Moderator of the General Assembly Free Church of Scotland. Over the following decades the Baháʼí Faith spread across Scotland, with Baháʼi communities now established in most cities across the country and many of the Scottish islands, including Orkney, Shetland, Skye and Isle of Lewis.
Dr. Kang Won Yong was a Christian leader, pioneer of the ecumenical movement in Korea, and an advocate for peace and reconciliation in the Korean peninsula.
Arnold E. Resnicoff is an American Conservative rabbi who served as a military officer and military chaplain. He served in Vietnam and Europe before attending rabbinical school. He then served as a U.S. Navy Chaplain for almost 25 years. He promoted the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and delivered the closing prayer at its 1982 dedication. In 1984 the President of the United States spoke on his eyewitness account of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. After retiring from the military he was National Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee and served as Special Assistant to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, serving at the equivalent military rank of Brigadier General.
David O'Leary is a priest and educator, appointed as a Canon in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. He is currently serving as the Pastor at Good Shepherd Parish in Wayland, MA. Previously, Reverend O'Leary was Parochial Vicar at Immaculate Conception Parish in Malden, MA. and was also formerly the University Chaplain for Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. During his time at Tufts University he was also Senior Lecturer in Religion and Medical Ethics and Chair of the Social, Behavioral and Educational Institutional Review Board.
Sally ("Salwa") Shatila Kader is the co-founder and president of the International Federation for Peace & Sustainable Development, a bipartisan, non-profit and non-governmental organization, which has seventeen chapters around the world including its headquarters in New York City. Kader is a peace activist and currently leads IFPSD programs and events at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and around the world. She has been recognized by world leaders and organizations for her contributions towards peace.
Living Interfaith is an Interfaith movement founded by Reverend Steven Greenebaum, which embraces the teachings of all spiritual paths that lead people to seek a life of compassionate action.
Bawa Jain is the Secretary-General for the World Council of Religious Leaders. He first presided as such at the 2000 Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders.
Yoshinobu Miyake is a Japanese Shinto priest and scholar. Rev. Miyake was appointed the Superior General of Konko Church of Izuo in 2006 and appointed chair of the Board of International Shinto Studies Association in 2013.
Androulla Kaminara is a Cypriot European civil servant who from September 2019 to May 2022 served as the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. As such, she was the first female ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan. Before her appointment to the European External Action Service, she joined the European Commission in 1991, where she has served in various Directorates General, including those dealing with technology, communications, development cooperation, international relations, and humanitarian aid.
The Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders was held in New York City between August 28–31, 2000. The meeting recognized the importance of religion to world peace and faith leaders’ commitment to peacekeeping, poverty relief, and environmental conservation. It preceded the Millennium Summit, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations (UN).
Tango Shalom is a 2021 American dance comedy film directed by Gabriel Bologna and starring Jos Laniado, Judi Beecher, Renée Taylor, Lainie Kazan and Karina Smirnoff. It was produced by Joel Zwick who directed My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The movie won 25 film festival awards, including the 2021 Artisan Festival International World Peace Initiative for Best World Peace and Tolerance Narrative Feature Film Award during the Cannes Film Festival. The film premiered at the 2021 Brooklyn Film Festival, the borough where the majority of the movie was filmed.
Joan Brown Campbell is an American Christian minister and ecumenical leader. She has standing as an ordained minister in both the Christian Church and the American Baptist Church. In 1991, she became the first ordained woman to serve as the general secretary for the National Council of Churches of Christ USA. During her career, she also served as the head of the US office for the World Council of Churches, and later, as director of the Religion Department for the Chataqua Institution. In both cases, she was the first woman to hold these roles.