The annual Ibrahim El-Hibri Interfaith Iftar dinner focuses on dialogue and understanding between the world’s religious faiths. Hosted by the El-Hibri Charitable Foundation in Washington, DC, the Ibrahim El-Hibri Interfaith Iftar event brings together prominent religious and community leaders from diverse backgrounds to listen and learn from each other.
The most recent interfaith dinner was held July 16, 2013, and featured His Eminence Cardinal McCarrick, former member of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. Speaking on the great need for peace between different religious faiths—particularly Muslims, Christians, and Jews—Cardinal McCarrick emphasized the importance of learning to speak with, and not simply to, people of different faiths. Cardinal McCarrick pointed to the Common Word initiative, a Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogue project, as an example of a program that works to successfully establish bridges between the two faiths. By engaging in relationship-building dialogue, which entails both voicing concerns and hearing those of others, people can achieve the key to interfaith peace and move from simply understanding others to truly appreciating them.