Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP) will mark its 25th anniversary Sunday with its annual Rev. George F. Regas Courageous Peacemaker Awards at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.
The Sept. 27 event, scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m., will recognize activists, religious leaders and advocates whose work the organization says reflects its commitment to peace and social justice.
This year’s theme, “Looking Forward, Looking Back: 25 Years of ICUJP,” will focus on the organization’s history since its formation following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Actress and activist Mimi Kennedy will host the program.
Those being honored include Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories; constitutional lawyer, lecturer and writer Stephen Rohde; the late Father Chris Ponnet, director of the St. Camillus Center for Spiritual Care at LAC+USC Medical Center; former Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop John Taylor; travel writer and television host Rick Steves; and the local activist organization Pasadena for Palestine.
The program will also feature “Life Under Occupation: Scenes from the West Bank,” a photo exhibit by Pasadena photographer Brian Biery.
ICUJP traces its beginnings to the days following the Sept. 11 attacks, when the late Rev. George F. Regas, former rector of All Saints Church, brought together Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Quaker and other religious leaders and activists in Los Angeles.
The coalition formed in opposition to calls for war following the attacks and has continued its advocacy around peace, human rights and other social justice issues.
The organization later established the Courageous Peacemaker Awards in Regas’ honor.
Previous recipients have included Archbishop Desmond Tutu, civil rights leader the Rev. James Lawson, labor leader Dolores Huerta, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, Housing Works, NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, the Poor People’s Campaign and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.
The awards program will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, opposite Pasadena City Hall.
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