THE SECRETARY-GENERAL 4 March 1998 Dear Sir Sigmund, I want to congratulate you on being named the recipient of the 1998 Terapleton Prize for Progress in Religion. This is a great honour and recognizes your untiring efforts on behalf of tolerance and peace among people of all faiths. Your lifelong dedication to deepening this dialogue inspires us all. Thank you for your kind words of support for my recent mission to Baghdad. Your good wishes and prayers are deeply appreciated. Yours sincerely, Kofi A. Annan Sir Sigmund Sternberg O.St.J.KCSG JP London 27-FEB-1998 11:44 FROM STERNBERQ 0171 485 4512 TO 0012129631185 P.02 Slar House Sir Sigmund Stemberg Grafton Ftoad London NWS <IBD O. StJ. KCSG JP Telephone 01T1 485-2S38 Facaiinila 0171 485-4512 February 27,1998 H.E. Mr. Kofi Anan lUJJL Secretary-Genera! of the United Nations UN Plaza New York, New York I am sure that the overwhelming majority of what we call the civilised world stands in your following the ^rafJjLa^a||y_successFi£ outcome _ . BaghdigrTwould wish to add"my thanks and admiration to theirs. When we stood together a year ago at the unveiling of the Wallenberg Monument in London, I thought for a moment that it would also fall to you to save possibly thousands of innocent people from death and destruction. 1 will be in New York nex^week for the_anno^ncgrrierit that l^ami^tojgcejye this year jgropj?to£jgrcre^ I would like to refer jn^rny press conference statement to your mission as a prime exampie of how dialogue underpins true diplomacy and how open and honest exchanges can contribute to the betterment of mankind, on every level. Your contribution was at the level of world leadership. But I have no doubt at all that the principles of dialogue have a constructive contribution to make in enabling not just nation to speak peace unto nation, but also religions to understand each other employer and employees to appreciate each other, even individuals to respect each other. Please accept my most sincere good wishes and thanks. Sincerely, Sir Siamund Steinberg TOTAL P.02 FOR PROGRESS IN RELIGION This award is especially for originality.or. research in religion.or spirituality. , PURPOSE he Templeton Award is not for good works. It is an award for progress in religion. The judges ask first what has this person done which was entirely original? Secondly, was it primarily spiritual rather than merely humanitarian? Lastly, did this original contribution by this nominee result in a great increase in either humankind's love of God or understanding of God? To clarify this important difference, for example, if a church should found a hospital, that is humanitarian, but if out of the witness of the hospital new congregations were formed, that is originality in religion. Many other awards honour wonderful humanitarian works, but this award is especially for originality or research in religion or spirituality. This award is intended to encourage the concept that resources and manpower are needed for progress in spiritual knowledge. We hope that by learning about the lives of the awardees, million of people will be uplifted and inspired to be enthusiastic about the further study and worship of God. The Prize is intended to help people see the infinity of the Universal Spirit still creating the galaxies and all living things and the variety of ways in which the Creator is revealing himself to different people. We hope all religions may become more dynamic and inspirational. We hope that mon resources will be devoted to research and discovery in spiritual forces than in the physical sciences. We hope that everyone will study and work for persona spiritual growth and progress. Progress comes in many different forms and by their fruits you shall know them. The Templeton Prize is awarded annually to a living person of any religious tradition or movement. The Templeton Prize does not encourage syncretism but rather an understanding of the benefits of diversity. It seeks to focus attention on the wide variety of highlights in present-day religious thought and work. It does not seek a unity of denominations or a unity of world religions; but rather it seeks to encourage understanding of the benefits of diversity. There is no limitation of race, creed, sex, or geographical background. OBJECTIVE Progress is needed in religion as in all other dimensions of human experience and endeavour. There has been a long departure, at least in Western culture, from the last synthesis when religious knowledge and scientific knowledge were organically related. It is urgent that progress in religion be accelerated as progress in other disciplines take place. A wider universe demands deeper awareness of the dimension of the spirit and of spiritual resources available for humankind, of the infinity of God, and of the divine knowledge and understanding still to be claimed. The Templeton Prize serves to stimulate this quest for deeper understanding and pioneering breakthroughs in religious knowledge by calling attention annually to the achievements in this area. It is hoped that there will result from this enterprise a deeper spiritual awareness on the part of humankind, a better understanding of the meaning of life, heightened quality of devotion and love, and a greater emphasis on the kind of dedication that brings the human life more into concert with the divine will, thus releasing new and creative energies into human society today. CRITERIA The judges consider a nominee's contribution to progress in religion made either during the year prior to his selection or during his entire career. The qualities sought in awarding the Prize are: freshness, creativity, innovation and effectiveness. Such contributions may involve new concepts of the spirit, new organizations, new methods of evangelism, new and effective ways of communicating God's wisdom and infinite love, creation of new schools of thought, creation of new structures of understanding the relationship of the Creator to his ongoing creation of the universe, to the physical sciences, the life sciences, and the human or man sciences, the releasing of new and vital impulses into old religious structures and forms, etc. AWARD The Prize, a sum in the amount of £750,000 sterling or its equivalent, is awarded each year at a ceremony in honour of the recipient, at which the recipient delivers a lecture. NOMINATIONS The Templeton Prize is awarded annually on the decision of a panel of nine judges from the major faiths of the world today. Nominations are sought from all major religions of the world. Leaders of theological and religious institutions and those engaged in innovative and creative work are invited to submit nominations. Other persons desiring to nominate should write to the Templeton Prize, P.O. Box N7776, Nassau, Bahamas. The good influence of the prize is increased by a wide diversity of winners. Accordingly, if for five years no scientist has been elected, then only scientists may be circulated to the judges the following year. Similar procedures may apply also to evangelists and nominees from different races, sexes, and religions. All nominations are considered by a central committee, with finalists then being submitted to the panel of judges, whose decision is final. No additional votes can be taken after the public announcement of the awardee. JUDGES His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was born on 29 February, 1940 on the Island of Imvros (Turkey). He studied for the Orthodox ministry at the Theological School of Halki, Istanbul, and in Rome, Switzerland and Germany. He is a specialist in Canon Law. He served on the Holy and Sacred Synod from 1974. He was elected as Metropolitan of Chalcedon in 1990 and Patriarch in 1991. A member of the Faith and Order Committee of the World Council of Churches for 15 years, he was elected a member of the Central and Executive Committees of that body at the Seventh Assembly, held in Canberra, Australia, 1991. Dr M A Zaki Badawi is the Principal of the post-graduate Muslim College in London, England and is chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council in England. He is also chairman of the Muslim Law (Shariah) Council in England and a Vice Chairman of the World Congress of Faiths. Educated at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo he also holds a PhD from London University. He was a lecturer in Islamic Studies and Arabic at the University of Malay in Singapore and Professor of Islamic Studies at the Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria and also at King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dr Badawi was the Director and Chief Imam of the Islamic Cultural Centre and Regent's Park Mosque in London. Paul Davies is a scientist and author. He was the recipient of the Templeton Prize in 1995. Prior to holding the Chair of Natural Philosophy at the University of Adelaide in South Australia he was professor of theoretical physics at England's University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He resides in Adelaide, South Australia. Dr Carl M. Kuttler, Jr serves as President of St. Petersburg Junior College (over 65,000 students) in Florida and has served as: honorary President of Leningrad University in Russia; Baoji Teachers College in China; an education advisor to the President of the United States and the U. S. Secretary of Education; a judge for the outstanding high schools in America; and co- sponsor with Presidents Ford and Carter on seminars for leadership. He has been honoured as one of America's outstanding college Presidents; "Honorary Father" of the Russian community college system; and as Distinguished Floridian by the honour students of Phi Theta Kappa.