Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement

 Hello! My name is Michael Maher. I am a Jesuit priest, and I am a professor of history at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington; and I am the director of the university’s Catholic Studies program. Historians can look at the history of the world in different ways. One way to look at it is through encounters. Some encounters have been very successful; they have been an opportunity for strong exchange of ideas in a peaceful environment. Other encounters have been less than successful; they have been traumatic, they have been hurtful, and they have caused tremendous destruction of one civilization to another. Certainly at the dawn of the 21st century, the millennium, we are looking at new encounters with the birth of the European economic community, with the emergence of Asia, with the greater awareness of Islam, with these countries in dialog with the West; this opportunity in Turkey has provided me with a tremendous opportunity to look at a nation and its people during the midst of encounter with others; and it has been a tremendous experience fot me to get to know the country in a small way in one week; to get to understand its generous people and some very important aspects of this country with the Gulen movement and its great emphasis on education. I leave these comments, with this one reflection is, I leave with tremendous hope and confidence for this country, when I see a movement that places such emphasis on the care and education of its youth. Thank you!