Wings of Unity is an academic initiative that, since 2016, has been advocating for profound dialogue between Christianity (IUS) and Islam (Risalat Institute). Students and academics alike come together to build bridges in a global effort to ease cultural tensions.

In a world fraught with cultural and religious tensions, initiatives that are capable of building bridges become particularly valuable. Since 2016 Wings of Unity has provided a space for academic gatherings and profound dialogue between different religions.

United World Communities – one of the pillars of United World Project – shares this story of collaboration between the Sophia University Institute, in Italy, and leading figures in Islamic thought. The partnership serves as a concrete example of how different communities of faith can walk side by side and offer answers to the challenges facing humankind today.

The friendship between the Sophia University Institute in Loppano (IUS) and Dr Mohammad Shomali – founder and director of the Risalat Institute in Qom, Iran, as well as director of the Islamic Institute of London and the IUS – is at the centre of an academic, research, and dialogue-centred initiative: Wings of Unity.

Since it was established in 2016, academics from both institutes have held thirteen restricted scientific seminars and thirteen ‘Weeks of Unity’, with around thirty students on average participating in each. They marked moments when the oneness of God and in God deepens in the history of Christian and Muslim theological thought. The question they are trying to answer is: what significance does this oneness have for interreligious relations, given the profound transformations and tragic recent events that have plagued modern times?

Educators and experts in both religions have been brought in for the discussions, with students from Europe and the Middle East listening along. These sessions have facilitated a profound dialogue on spiritual roots and the theological reasons why religions can and must forge shared bonds today. The participants’ goals were to carry out the crucial new role they had taken on at a global level and to help heal the divides in our society, with a focus on fundamental reasons for living together.

The story of Wings of Unity – and especially the annual ‘Week of Unity’, which is open to both students and professors – is now a touchstone for many at the Sophia University Institute. There has also recently been progress in Africa and Brazil.

This article was written by United World Communities, a global network that builds fraternity through action and a pillar of United World Project. To find out more about our work, click here.

Article translated into English by Becca Webley