Religious dialogue a key to release of U.S. hikers
Diocese of Washington Bishop, the Rt. Rev. John Chane, engaged in religious dialogue with Iranian officials to help bring about the release of U.S. hikers:
U.S. hikers released in Iran; Washington bishop cites importance of
religious dialogue
From ENS - Episcopal News Service
The Sept. 21 release of U.S. hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal from an Iranian prison "affirms the importance of the role of religious dialogue and its end product in this case, public diplomacy, as we seek ways to define common ground between our two countries," said Diocese of Washington Bishop John Chane, who returned from a weeklong visit to Iran on Sept. 19.Chane and a delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders had traveled to
Iran at the invitation of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; one
objective was to seek the release of the hikers on humanitarian
grounds.The delegation included Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick,
former leader of the Archdiocese of Washington, and Nihad Awad and
Larry Shaw, national executive director and board chairman
respectively of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
