News

Suffi leader Sheikh Khaled Bentounès makes first visit to WCC

Prominent Suffi leader Sheikh Khaled Bentounès made his first visit to the World Council of Churches (WCC) on 1 February, meeting with WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and other WCC staff.

Available in:

Français

Sheikh Khaled Bentounès and Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC General Secretary — Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC General Secretary and Sheikh Khaled Bentounès

02 February 2023

Share this article

Subscribe to WCC news

Programme activity

Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation

Sheikh Bentounès, who helped establish 16 May as the International Day of Living Together in Peace, participated in an interfaith celebration in Geneva on 31 January, part of his role as honorary president of the non-governmental organization of AISA International.

At that event, he offered a reflection on “Peace, Source of All Good.” He noted that humanity is going through ordeals which may prove difficult to overcome.

“These different crises that we are living are symptomatic of a sick world, of a social model that is running out of steam,” he said. “How can we aspire to peace in the world if we are not at peace with ourselves and with others?”

We need a new logic, Sheikh Bentounès surmised. “This evolution also comes about through a redefinition of the notion of peace which cannot be limited to the absence of conflicts among nations,” he said. “It is an individual state of mind that must accompany us at every moment.”