Religion historically has been a major source of international conflict, and its role as such has been reinforced in recent years. Hans Kung has asserted that the “most fanatical and cruelest political struggles are those that have been colored, inspired, and legitimized by religion.” In his famous essay, “Clash of Civilizations,” Samuel Huntington went so far as to argue that the great divisions among humankind and the dominating sources of conflict in global politics are based on culture, which is primarily differentiated by religion. Huntington’s opinion, however, is an exaggeration of the importance of religion in international conflict. In fact, most assessments of religion in international affairs tend to oversimplify the causal interconnections between religion and confl ict and often disregard important alternate variables.

While much has been made of religion as a source of international conflict, considerably less attention has been given to religion as a source of international peacemaking. There are two principal varieties of religious peacemaking. The first involves religious and faith-based organizations engaging in peacemaking activities. Probably the most illustrative case of this type of peacemaking was the mediation by the Catholic organization Sant’Egidio that ended the 1992 civil war in Mozambique. The second type of religious peacemaking promotes understanding between religious groups that are in conflict. Inter-faith reconciliation in a post-conflict period also falls in this category. This article will analyze both types of religious peacemaking and will explore country case studies from the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East.

Bosnia and the Promise of Faith-Based NGOs

Recognizing that many faith-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have attempted to promote post-conflict reconciliation in Bosnia, the US Institute of Peace commissioned a study measuring the success of these efforts. The guiding research questions were: How effectively can faith-based NGOs advance reconciliation in Bosnia? Can faith-based NGOs be effective agents of inter-faith reconciliation, particularly when they share a religious identity with one party involved in the conflict? Are these NGOs more likely to be agents of reconciliation or contributors to additional division? The research was undertaken over a 15- month period by Branka Peuraca, who studied the work of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Muslim and Jewish organizations (including Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Islamic Relief Worldwide, and local NGOs such as Abraham).

The number of international and local faith-based organizations operating in Bosnia is impressive, as is the number contributing to ethno-religious reconciliation. Some of the early efforts at reconciliation proved to be ineffective, and in some cases, counterproductive. Some Muslim organizations were even suspected of having ties to Islamic terrorist groups in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan. Despite these few stumbling blocks, the overall assessment was positive. Many faith-based NGOs have made a significant contribution to ethno-religious reconciliation in Bosnia. This has included the formation of Bosnia’s Inter-Religious Council, composed of leaders from the four religious communities. NGOs like Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief encourage inter-faith collaboration in planning local, educational, and infrastructural projects. In the course of planning and implementing local development projects, ethno-religious enemies end up cooperating with each other. Other projects like the Pontanima Choir, initiated by the Order of Franciscans in Sarajevo, have directly aimed at interpersonal reconciliation.

The inter-faith dialogue work in Bosnia organized by Reverend David Steele of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is worthy of mention. While not a faith-based organization itself, CSIS effectively facilitated many inter-faith dialogues and helped to found the local Center for Religious Dialogue to continue this work. Steele developed an approach to organizing dialogues that has proved effective over several years in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. His methods are based heavily upon personal storytelling, which uses the participants’ experiences to help them relate to members of other faith communities. In addition to employing personal testimony, his approach emphasizes the importance of acknowledging responsibility for wrongs committed against the other group, forgiving injuries inflicted by the other group, and developing strategies to address the issues of justice that have generated and sustained intergroup conflict.

The CSIS cases in Bosnia demonstrate that enlightened action by faith-based NGOs can contribute to inter-religious reconciliation in places where religion is a source of conflict. These NGOs can bridge religious divisions, diminish the level of animosity, and focus attention on the shared responsibility to rebuild society.

Inter-faith Dialogue in Macedonia

In the spring of 2001, President Boris Trajkovski of Macedonia gave a public address at the US Institute of Peace. As he was departing, he asked the President of the Institute to support inter-faith dialogue in Macedonia, particularly between leaders of the two largest ethno-religious communities, the Macedonian Orthodox Christians and the Albanian Muslims. The 2000 and 2001 armed conflict in Macedonia between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Macedonians was not caused by religious differences, but the polarized, inflammatory rhetoric of religious leaders did exacerbate the conflict. Trajkovski saw the need to dampen the escalating inter-religious animosity.

Knowing their familiarity with both Macedonia and inter-faith dialogue, I approached Professors Paul Mojzes and Leonard Swidler of the International Scholars Annual Trialogue (ISAT), a division of the Global Dialogue Institute, to sponsor an inter-faith project in Macedonia with financial support from the US Institute of Peace. In May 2002, ISAT organized a five-day dialogue project in Skopje for 50 Macedonian religious scholars and leaders along with 40 international scholars. The Macedonian participants included Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Methodists, and Jews.

At the beginning of the five-day dialogue, the atmosphere was tense and the exchanges acrimonious, particularly between Orthodox Christians and Muslims. But as the dialogue progressed, the participants began to recognize their shared interests as people of faith. Since Macedonia was recently emancipated from anti-religious Communist rule, the various religious communities shared desires to offer religious education in public schools, to return properties confiscated by the Communist government, and to have the media respectfully cover religious activities. The participants in the dialogue also began to understand the pain and suffering each side had inflicted on the other, and reconnected with the warrants for peace and reconciliation in each of their faith traditions.