Alaska priest to engage Islam at national level

Anchorage, AK (Catholic Anchor) - At the end of this month, Father Leo Walsh heads to Washington, D.C. to begin a new job that deals with some of the roots of age-old human conflicts.

Born, raised and ordained to the priesthood in Alaska, Father Walsh will leave his home state to work for at least three years with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where his primary task will be to facilitate greater understanding between Catholics and Muslims across the country.

Setting the table

As associate director for the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Father Walsh will do much of the legwork in bringing religious leaders together to address issues, both theological and practical.

Those dialogues will generally include bishops, academic experts and prominent Muslim leaders. The aim of the gatherings is to foster mutual understanding and find areas where greater unity and cooperation are possible.

"It is important for us to be in dialogue," Father Walsh explained in an interview with the Anchor. "We've seen what happens when those prejudices and antagonisms are allowed to run unchecked."

For example, Father Walsh pointed to the mischaracterization of Islam that occurs when memories of the September 11, 2001 attacks are the primary perception that people have of the religion.

"Dialogue is especially important because of how skittish people are today," Father Walsh said.
"Most people, you talk to them about Islam and they are going to mention 9/11 somewhere within the first three minutes of the conversation because that is the image in their mind. And believe me, it is the image in the Muslim's mind too. They live with that every day."

Leaving home

While the new job excites him, Father Walsh acknowledged having mixed feelings about leaving St. Andrew Church where he has been pastor for ten years and the Archdiocese of Anchorage, which he has served for all 15 years of his priesthood.

"Alaska's home and always will be," he said in an interview with the Anchor. "My friends and family are here."

But two years ago, Father Walsh said he felt God was asking him if he could leave it all behind. After a process of discernment, he thought he could - if asked.
Last month, the question finally came, when the USCCB called.

"As a priest, when you are ordained, you know in the back of your mind, the possibility exists for something like this," Father Walsh explained. "A call to serve elsewhere."

Initially, the job is for three years, but it could be extended.

Preparation to serve

Apart from a year in Rome to finish his doctorate, the D.C. post will be Father Walsh's first assignment outside Alaska.

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The 44-year-old priest sees his extended work in ecumenical relations as preparation for the national post. For years, Father Walsh has served as the ecumenical and interfaith officer for the Anchorage Archdiocese. Additionally, he served three years as the president of the Inter-Faith Council of Anchorage and just last year, he earned a doctorate in ecumenical theology.

"(The doctorate) translates very easily into inter-faith relations," Father Walsh explained. "Even though my specialty is the Orthodox, the dynamics of dialogue translate very well."

The Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs consists of a director and two associate directors. Each of them focuses on different areas. Executive director Father James Massa focuses on Jewish-Catholic dialogues, while fellow associate director Paulist Father Ron Roberson works with the Orthodox and other Christian churches. Father Walsh will deal primarily with Muslims, but his other duties will include facilitating consultations with Buddhists and several other world religions present in the United States. On the ecumenical side, he will help staff the national dialogue with the Methodists, as well as other Protestant churches such as the Presbyterians.

Multiple fronts

Interreligious work is very much dependent on building human relationships, Father Walsh explained.

"It is not just comparative religion," he said. "Religion is never lived in a vacuum. We engage and live in the community in which we are a part."

He noted that dialogue happens on at least three levels -- the international, the national and the local. He said a prime example of local dialogue was the Engaging Muslims Project, in which the Archdiocese of Anchorage and other groups partnered with the Cardinal Newman Chair at Alaska Pacific University to establish a series of national caliber dialogues to bring about greater understanding of Islam.

On the international front, Father Walsh noted that Pope Benedict XVI has provided strong leadership in reaching out to the Islamic world and inviting them to dialogue.

Father Walsh pointed to the Common Word Project in which 138 Muslim scholars agreed to an interfaith dialogue with Christians on the topic of love of God and love of neighbor.

At the national level in which Father Walsh will be engaged, he sees the possibility to address issues that arise from increased contact with Muslims due to immigration to the United States from Mid-East countries.

Father Walsh also pointed to several ongoing national dialogues. One deals with the way Islam and Christianity are portrayed in academic textbooks.

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"What does a Catholic school say about Islam in their curriculum and what do Muslims say about Catholics in theirs?" Father Walsh asked. "That is very important, because what you teach in school is the image that kids have and if I'm going to write a textbook about Islam, I need to make sure I don't give a distorted picture."

Another Muslim-Catholic dialogue occurring in the Midwest deals with how God reveals himself in human history.

"That dialogue allows us to understand how each religion understands how God is talking to them," he said. "In that case we can see what commonalities we have and where it is going to be more difficult."

A new realm

Father Walsh noted that the whole realm of interfaith and interreligious dialogue is relatively new and evolving ever since the Second Vatican Council.

"It's still in its early stages," he said. "We are only in the first or second generation of interfaith dialogue."

Additionally, dialogue with Muslims is also an unfolding process. Father Walsh pointed to the fact that Islam does not have a central leader such as the pope. Instead, religious leaders and schools of thought permeate the Islamic world and they are not always in agreement with their interpretations of religious scriptures.

Despite the challenges, Father Walsh said he sees both spiritual and social benefits from pursuing deeper dialogue with Muslims.

"One benefit is a greater understanding of our own beliefs," he said. "If I'm going to be in dialogue with someone else, I need to first know my own Catholic identity very well."

He also said a noticeable absence of prejudice would be another goal of dialogue.

"I would hope that we could have a more accurate knowledge of who each other is," he said. "It makes for a much stronger society."

When Father Walsh leaves Alaska, Father Ben Torreto will take over as pastor of St. Andrew Church on July 1. Father Walsh's other duties, as vicar of clergy, ecumenical officer and vocations director will be reassigned before he leaves for D.C.

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Republished by Catholic Online with permission of the Catholic Anchor (www.catholicanchor.org), official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.