Appreciation

1983

"The Monchanin Cross-Cultural Centre is the only place where, I believe, you can come and tell what you want to talk about. You don't have to worry about anybody getting mad. In fact, I think to myself: "You know, they should invite those Arabs and those Israelis to come here. I bet they could make their settlement right here at this Centre."

Sakokwenonkwas
(Chief Tom Porter)
Mohawk Nation

1985

"The Monchanin Centre has a high spirit of solidarity."

Dom Helder Camara
Recife, Brazil

1992

"Last year there were a number of efforts to deal with the breakdown in the native vs. non-native relationships; some started from the native side, some from the church groups, some as community initiatives. In my opinion, the most effective initiative was that of the Intercultural Institute of Montreal. I give full support to the Institute and hope to see it continue its worthwhile projects. After the Mohawk crisis, last year was especially effective because of the constructive involvement of many different cultures and a good range of helpful opinion."

Ernest Benedict
President
Onake Corporation

1993

"It is essential that the work of great value of your Institute be continued especially at this time when there is such a need for clear and critical thinking about direction for the future."

Sidney Pobihuschy
Professor
Department of Political Science
University of New Brunswick
Fredericton, Canada

"Living with the Earth was probably the first conference of its kind in which radical critics of development out-numbered professional environmentalists and conventional development experts trying to incorporate within their framework some concern with ecology. The meeting was dominated not by professionals trying to listen to what their opponents were saying, but by activists and deprofessionalised intellectuals trying to bring the voice of indigenous peoples and lifestyles to the center of the dialogue. In this sense the conference was a unique experience for many like me who have spent most of their lives as part of a small minority. This was one meeting where I did not have to begin my day by justifying my intellectual or moral position over the breakfast table."

Ashis Nandy,
Centre for Developing Societies,
(in Living with the Earth, Proceedings of the International Conference)
New Delhi, India

1994

"Thank you for keeping up such extraordinarily good work."

Frédérique Apfel-Marglin, anthropologist
Smith College, USA

"Kalpana Das, Director of IIM and her colleague R. Vachon have made the Centre a leading forum for alternative thought about development."

Mark Abley
The Gazette,
Montréal, Canada

1996

"The Episcopal Commission for Missions is preparing a pastoral reflection on native spirituality to be issued on National Aboriginal Day, June 21, 1997. Your reflection "Framing the Issues" which contributed to the preparation of the CCCB's brief to the royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples will be very helpfull in this process as well. As a researcher for this project I would like to inform you of this important work, thank you for the contribution that you have already made, and invite your further support."

Gerry Kelly
Researcher
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Ottawa, Canada

"Among the various cultural organizations in Canada and abroad with which I have been associated, the Intercultural Institute of Montreal is unique. It combines a profound theoretical awareness of cultural nuances with a practical outreach service that is so important in explaining changing social dynamics. I don't think there is any other organization in North America that has done so much for so many with so little with such sensitivity and quality as the Intercultural Institute of Montreal."

J.W. Spellman, Ph.D
Professor of Asian Studies
University of Windsor
Windsor, Canada

1997

"I have recently been through your back issues, all the way back to the beginning, and I have found some truly remarkable material."

Edward Goldsmith
The Ecologist
Surrey, U.K.

1999

"Thank you for the issues of Interculture: the special anniversary issue (congratulations!) and the issue with the paper by Panikkar on democracy. I very much appreciate receiving these issues. I have for a long time admired and applauded the work of your Institute which is so much needed in our time when ethnic cleansing seems to be a constant temptation. I find Panikkar's essay very interesting, a foray into the domain of democratic theory which had not been in the forefront of his concerns in the past."

Fred Dallmayr
Professor of Political Theory
Department of Government and International Studies
University of Notre Dame
Indiana, USA.

"Congratulations on your 35th Anniversary and still going strong. Perhaps you could rework your essay on IIM as a piece about what is needed today - radical alternative to western culture, interculturalism rather that interreligious etc. for Cross Currents... If we're still running the latter, I'd feature your October issue 135 in the old "in the magazines section", which I fear will not be continued. Contact the new editor, if interested... Delighted you are carrying on..."

Joe Cunneen, former editor in chief
Cross Curents
Wyack, NM, USA

"I've just read, and read again, your excellent piece in issue no 135. For many years I've read and reviewed with enthusiasm many IIM issues, even back to the days of Le Centre Monchanin. But only in reading this issue did I realize the depth of religious and cultural understanding behind it all. Your discussion of interreligion is way ahead of the times. Many theologians, scientists and philosophers are talking about merging science and religion in their search for truth of the cosmos. But, most of them seem to be apologists for basic long standing positions. Thomas Berry comes close with his "Story of the Universe" and Bishop John Shelby Spong's non-theistic Christianity reaches new ground. But none seem to grasp that the ultimate reality is the Cosmos, Man and God as one and as many. Your discussion of "sacred secularity" is particularly telling. I hope that the publication of these ideas in Interculture is not the end. They should be widely published and circulated. You have enunciated an important breakthrough in one of the most critical issues of the times. It needs to be read by anyone interested in the science/religion/humanities dialogue."

Bill Ellis
Tranet
Rangeley , USA

2000

"God bless you for your wonderful work. I know from my own experience how difficult it is to struggle to break open new insights and doorways and yet at another level simply to put it out there and if someone wants it they will pick it up when they are ready and when they need it. Take care and God's blessings."

Eva Solomon,
Anishawbe

2002

"I very much appreciated your book "At the Threshold of the African Soul" that was published by Interculture. For me, the sort of society you describe is the only one that works. Modern societies are all a total disaster, socially and ecologically. It is quite clear that the only really satisfactory way to live is as part of an extremely cohesive family and community, held together by a traditional cultural pattern."

Edward Goldsmith,
The Ecologist
Surrey, U.K.

To read other testimonials in French