The Memorial of Fethullah Gülen
-Michael Sullivan
Saint Pope John Paul II with Fethullah Gülen
Long time resident of the Chestnut Retreat Center in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Fethullah Gülen passed away on October 20th, 2024, surrounded by his friends, family and students. Gülen lived a remarkable life as an Islamic scholar and gained a massive following in Turkey as the founder of the Hizmet movement before being exiled to our very own Pocono Mountains. Gülen taught his students the importance of interreligious dialogue and understanding and he worked for many years to foster collaboration among faith traditions. The movement he founded conducts schools of higher education for Muslims around the world and teaches them to reconcile faith and reason in service to others of all faiths. His influence on Islamic thought in Turkey and around the world was recognized by world leaders, including our own Saint Pope John Paul II and the Dali Lama. Thousands attended the tribute to his life held in Sussex County, New Jersey before his eventual burial on the grounds of the retreat center where he had passed the last years of his exile.
What has so far gone unreported by the major press was the more intimate ceremony at the Chestnut Retreat Center on Sunday night November 10th, 2024. Gathered were faith leaders from the entire Poconos area, such as Pastor Nicole Vogel of East Stroudsburg Presbyterian Church, Rabbi Daniel Zucker, who recently came to our church, and Susan Odessky of the Unitarian Universalists, who had led the first exchange of visits with our parish in the Faithful Neighbors Ministry.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Anthony Stevens-Arroyo was honored to be the first person to speak at the memorial. He began by expressing condolences in the name of our Bishop Bambera and Father Quinnan of the Church of Saint Luke who had sent personal messages to the grieving members of Hizmet. Dr. Stevens-Arroyo spoke of the visit of Bishop Bambera, head of the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Affairs, with Fr. Quinnan and himself to the Chestnut Retreat Center in 2023 before the death of Gülen. The greatest impact on him was in how the Hizmet followers mirrored the values of Mr. Gülen. He compared the impact of a modern Islamic education under Hizmet to his own education at Philadelphia’s Jesuit high school, St. Joe’s Prep and later at Fordham University. In both places, the Jesuit education fostered a pursuit of scientific knowledge without fear of contradiction to faith, since God is the author of all truth. The motto of the Jesuits is “men for others” and he noted that these very words were cited in the memorial to Mr. Gülen as the essence of Hizmet. He said he understood Gülen to be the saintly founder of an enduring religious movement among Muslims similar to St. Ignatius Loyola who founded the Society of Jesus.
Bishop Joseph Charles Bambera, Father Michael Quinnan, and Dr. Anthony Stevens Arroyo touring the Chestnut Retreat Center
Dr. Stevens-Arroyo ended his excellent talk by noting that it had been almost 40 days without rain, until the night we held the ceremony, when the skies let loose a few drops. He noted that rain falling from Heaven was compared in scripture to God’s mercy falling down from Heaven upon the just. He concluded by suggesting the sudden rain was a symbol of God’s pleasure in the life of the Hizmet founder.
After Dr. Stevens-Arroyo’s opening remarks, a series of Gülen’s former students gave witness to their life-long teacher. Many had graduated from schools that the Hizmet movement has created throughout the world including Europe, Africa, and throughout the Americas. Gülen’s great grandniece spoke about how Gülen’s work towards social justice was matched with wonderful love for children.
After Gülen’s students and family had spoken about their mentor, representatives from the various faiths, mostly Christian (non-Catholic) related their many positive interactions with Gülen and his followers. The focus remained on Gülen’s great life work of bringing together the various faiths for the common purpose of serving humanity.
Dr. Anthony Stevens Arroyo speaking at the memorial
The memorial concluded with prayers from each of the great Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Mr. Gülen taught that the only way to truly love God is by loving each other and those in need, something that sounds very familiar to Catholic followers of Christ. He will be remembered by the next generation that he inspired and rest in peace knowing that his work will be carried on by the men and women of the Hizmet Movement for many years to come. Part of the mission of our Muslim neighbors at Chestnut Retreat Center is to foster interfaith dialog and sharing. One of their numbers, Mr. Semih Kiyma is the current chairperson of the Pocono Interfaith Council. In our parish, we are fortunate to have established meaningful bonds to these Muslims whose living faith challenges us to be as fervent and out-going in the name of Jesus. Our Faithful Neighbors Ministry brings our parish and the whole Diocese of Scranton into faith-filled cooperation.
The images are from Chestnut Hill Retreat Center Facebook page