Category: Interfaith

LANZA DEL VASTO (1901-1981)

Lanza del Vasto was born to a noble family in Italy in 1901. After studying philosophy he journeyed to India in 1936 where he studied under various Hindu holy men. He met Mahatma Gandhi and lived at Gandhi’s ashram long enough to become deeply acquainted with his philosophy of nonviolence and its practice. Gandhi gave… Read more »

JACQUES MARITAIN (1882-1973)

Jacques Maritain was the major Catholic philosopher of the 20th Century. He was born in a Protestant family, but as a student he was an agnostic. He later met and married Raissa Oumensoff, a Jewish émigré from Russia, and together they began an intense spiritual quest. Under the influence of the philosopher Henri Bergson and… Read more »

AARON JEAN-MARIE CARDINAL LUSTIGER (1926-2007)

Aaron Lustiger was born in Paris in 1926 to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Poland. When World War II broke out, the family fled to Orléans. After reading the Christian Bible, the teenage Lustiger felt drawn to the Orléans Cathedral. He decided to convert to Catholicism, with the reluctant consent of his parents, adding… Read more »

Roger Williams (1603-1684)

Roger Williams a visionary early-American who advocated for religious liberty and separation of church and state. He founded Rhode Island in 1636 as a pure democracy.

André Trocmé (1901-1971)

André Trocmé was the pastor of Le Chambon, France who took a stance against fascism during WWII. Le Chambon which became a safe space for Jewish refugees.