Utica Visited Again Over Religious Pluralism

April 11, 2010

Author: Jennifer Fusco

Source: Utica Observer-Dispatch

http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1661779778/Utica-visited-again-over-religious-pluralism

In a world of religious differences and sometimes strife, Utica is on the map as a place where multiple faiths are co-existing in relative harmony.

In recent years, the city has become a stop for international journalists, religious experts and diplomats interested in how Uticans are managing a remarkable religious transition.

Utica has one of the highest proportions of Muslims in the entire United States, thanks largely to arrivals of refugees from Bosnia, the Sudan, Somalia and Burma. A Cambodian Buddhist temple opened in recent years on Miller Street, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple now operates on Riverside Drive and Buddhists from Burma are also active in the community.

Yet in a city that traditionally had been overwhelmingly Christian and primarily Roman Catholic, newcomers have been practicing their faith without generating displays of intolerance.