Interfaith Advocacy and Civic Engagement

CDA was pleased to host the group from the following countries for this program from Oct. 31 – November 6, 2024. Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia.

Because they visited a variety of religious and spiritual locations they were exposed to the strength of working together as a community, regardless of the faith of each.

The visit to the Tohono O’odham and Chairman Austin Nunez started off their first day. They were impressed with the meeting and with Chairman Nunez. Then they were off to Salpointe High School. I asked Mr. Holstrom how it had gone and got this response from their host there:

“It was awesome… truly inspiring.  We were so impressed by our guests and I think our students were really incredible in their participation.  It felt like a homerun.

I was asked to type up a blurb about it and wrote the following. 

Mr. Holstrom’s Honors World History class hosted a panel on “Interfaith Advocacy” at Salpointe today.  With support from the US State Department and Tucson’s Citizen Diplomacy Alliance, ten visitors arrived from Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kurdistan, and Mauritania. One visitor even graduated from a Carmelite school in Beirut!  Two fantastic interpreters were operating at full speed, assisting students and visitors in dialogue that transitioned quickly between English and Arabic. In unpackaging cultural differences, we found common humanity, and all participants were eager to express their desires for peace and understanding in parts of the world where citizenship and human rights are threatened and where people of diverse faiths seek greater solidarity. We were honored to host such distinguished travelers, and we are very proud of our students in the way their interactions with our guests represented our community and Salpointe’s mission for global social justice. 

Citizen Diplomacy Alliance: https://cdalliance.us/Brian Holstrom

Social Studies Department

Salpointe Catholic High School

(520) 547-9359″

The also visited the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) and visited with them about the Relief Society.

This from Judd Curtis from the LDS meeting. His quote is “We enjoyed them very much”.