The US State Department announced that the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback will visit Istanbul, Turkey today, January 16, where he will meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, to discuss religious freedom issues.
Ambassador Brownback will also visit important religious sites in Istanbul and surrounding areas.
According to the statement Mr Brownback is on travel to Vatican City and Istanbul, Turkey, January 14-18.
Brownback’s first stop is Rome and Vatican City, where he will participate in the launch of the Abrahamic Faiths Initiative, a dialogue led and organised by religious leaders of three Abrahamic faith traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, working together to emphasise the peaceful expression of faith and the renunciation of violence.
This dialogue, the first of many, seeks to foster mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding between the Abrahamic faith traditions in the quest for greater religious freedom, stability and peace around the world.
*Photo credit: Gage Skidmore
