Catholic Diocese holds inter-religious meeting

Catholic Diocese of Reno will celebrate the silver jubilee of its annual diocesan conference by connecting with area leaders of other religions on Jan. 18-19 at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks.

Father Charles T. Durante of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church of Carson City, who will be attending the conference, said it will include serious dialogue among regional leaders of Muslim, Protestant, Hindu and Jewish faiths on the topics of truth, fullness, acceptance of each other and growing together.

"It will reflect on how do we reconnect," Durante said.

Participating religious leaders include Hindu chaplain Rajan Zed, Reverend V. James Jeffrey, Rabbi Myra Soifer and Imam Abdul Barghouthi, in addition to Durante. "Integrity - Rooted in the Soul" is the theme of the 25th annual conference.

Some of the other topics to be covered in this conference include, "New Cosmology for Saving Mother Earth," "Teaching Your Teens," "Love and Economics," and "Smart Sex." In addition, there will be a Spanish language section. Catholic music artist, John Angotti, will also be participating in the conference.

Catholic Diocese of Reno, established in 1931, covers 70,852 square miles spread in eleven Nevada counties in addition to Carson City. Before 1840, this area was under the Diocese of Sonora in Mexico, when it came under the jurisdiction of Bishop Moreno of California. Current Bishop is the Most Reverend Randolph R. Calvo.

Hindu chaplain Rajan Zed has congratulated the Catholic Diocese efforts in reaching out to other religions for a dialogue.

"Religion is a complex component of human life. Everyone is looking for the truth and in our shared quest for the truth, we can learn from each other and thus come closer to the truth," Zed said.

Registration for the conference is $45 for both days; same-day registration is an additional $10.

Friday activities begin at 8 a.m.; general sessions 1 and 2 are from 1-2 and 2:15-3:15 p.m. respectively. Keynote speaker at 6:30 p.m. Friday is the Rev. Ray Carey on Integrity, with a concert at 7:30 p.m. featuring John Angotti and the Band.

Saturday events begin at 8 a.m. with registration and exhibit openings, with session 3 at 9:45 a.m.; session 4 at 11 a.m.; session 5 at 1:15 p.m. and session 6 at 3 p.m. Closing liturgy is at 4:15 p.m.

Each of Friday's and Saturday's sessions feature a guest speaker. For information, visit www.catholicreno.org.

• Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.