pathways, August 2009
In spirit of the Assembly 2009, pathways wishes to continue the inter-religious dialogue and growth in understanding by publishing articles that tell of the initiatives and progress being made in this field around Australia. Contributions from the local to the national and international will be welcomed for consideration - either as written contributions, links (original sources will be acknowledged) or article leads. Accompanying photographs and/or graphics also will be welcome.
Continuing the work
Local encouragement
Sweat turns tolerance into compassion
Peace prayers for the Middle East
Continuing the work
Several religious experienced in the field of inter-religious dialogue will be asked by the CRA Council to help advance the understanding and practical applications in this field in the wake of the Assembly 2009, Australian Religious in a Multi-faith Society: reality, gift and challenge. The council, at its first meeting since the national gathering in July, considered assembly recommendations and decided to seek expert advice on how best to proceed, including suggestions on how religious could best respond to and interact with the Parliament of the World's Religions, the world's biggest inter-faith event this year, which will be held in Melbourne in December.
CRA will write to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference asking the bishops for their cooperation in promoting interreligious dialogue and praising Bishop Manning for his input to the assembly. CRA also will write to the Australasian Catholic Press Association to encourage the Catholic publications in Australia and New Zealand to be alert to potential inter-religious articles within their dioceses and congregations and to promote grassroots activities wherever possible.
Local encouragement
Catholic Religious South Australia's representative Marion Gambin RSJ said that CRSA had already invited teachers from three congregational schools to share with the committee the work currently being done in schools to promote interfaith dialogue. The three schools were Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Christian Brothers College and Mary MacKillop College.
"The conversation was stimulating and challenging," she told the August meeting of the CRA Council. "It was very informative and an experience of hope for what is possible in the local community." Sr Marion said the teachers also received a tremendous boost from meeting and hearing each other and ongoing mutual support was likely.
The following two stories are taken from the newsletter of the Office for the Participation of Women …
Sweat turns tolerance into compassion
Three inspiring women Fazida Razak, Marie Therese Ryder RNDM and Marg Finlay IBVM recently told the story of Building Bridges - from Prejudice to Compassion through a conversation circle. They promote peace by developing friendships and understanding and building relationships at very practical levels.
Ms Razak spoke of a "peace sports festival" which was implemented at John XXIII College in Perth, telling of the positive effect this initiative had on the young people involved.
"When these young people 'sweat' together tolerance becomes compassion! They discover that they share commonalities with each other and are respectful of differences," she said.
Another significant initiative mentioned during the forum was a women's day walk in the park with Muslim, Christian and Jewish women gathering. From humble beginnings many women now gather to walk and pray for peace.
An OPW comment said: "We were challenged not to be 'one story people' where we only take our opinions from the media or narrow sources. We were encouraged to widen our vision! To get to know people and to build relationships!" A copy of the teleforum will be available on the OPW website in the coming weeks.
Peace prayers for the Middle East
About 150 people from the Jewish, Christian and Islamic communities of Canberra met at the Jewish Community Centre in Forrest to pray for peace in the Middle East recently. The event concluded with the signing of an Interfaith Commitment on Dialogue and Co-operation. The three communities promised to continue to respect and listen to one another, to work together in discerning 'principles for peace' and to seek a joint project in which they might support sister communities in the Holy Land working for peace.
Bishop Pat Power (Auxiliary, Canberra-Goulburn), 2009 Canberran of the Year, said "Here in Canberra we are uniquely placed to promote dialogue. The good will which exists between the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities enables us to cross divides which in other places seem insuperable."
Leaders from the three faith communities have met since the Prayers for Peace to take further the exploration of the 'principles for peace' and the shaping of an interfaith project in which they might co-operate.
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