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Bishop Emeritus Munib Younan from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land accepted a “Building Bridges of Understanding” award on 12 September at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The award is organized by the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.
The annual award recognizes individuals who have dedicated their life’s work to fostering greater understanding between faith groups.
“Bishop Younan was the first to translate the Augsburg Confession, a key doctrinal document of the Lutheran Church, into Arabic,” the award program reads. “He is also an active member of various ecumenical and interfaith dialogue initiatives in Jerusalem that he helped found.”
The award also recognizes Younan’s devotion to furthering human rights. “Bishop Younan continues to be active in inter-religious encounters, ecumenism, peace based on justice, gender justice and reconciliation in his own region as well as internationally,”reads the award program.
World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit commended Younan’s work for justice and peace. “Bishop Munib Younan has done a lot to promote inter-church, inter-religious and international dialogue,” said Tveit. “He has also been active in implementing results thereof, often in a very demanding context of injustices and conflicts.”
In a letter, Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, together with the Lutheran World Federation and the board of the Augusta Victoria Hospital, congratulated Younan on the honor.
“Building Bridges of Understanding is honoring Dr Younan as a remarkable figure whose efforts to promote interfaith relations, peace-building and social justice have been extraordinary,” the letter reads. “We celebrate in this recognition in Dr Younan’s exemplary work in bridging interfaith communities in the local context in Jerusalem and globally.”
Also receiving the award was Najah Bazzy, RN, a nationally esteemed health care consultant, humanitarian, and interfaith leader. Past recipients include Hans Küng, Sulayman Nyang, Patriarch Michel Sabbah, and the late Fathi Osman.
