IND. CATH NEWS REPORT: Sunday 20 – Saturday 26 November 2011 marks National Inter Faith Week, in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, a special focus on interreligious dialogue. A rich calendar of events – talks, meals, lectures and other events – will help this week become a special one, with many a chance for communities to learn about and from each other.
Many Catholics across England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland, will take part in the week in many different ways. In Watford, north London, there will be an Interfaith Pilgrimage in which participants will walk to five places of worship including Holy Rood Catholic Church, the Watford and District Synagogue, and the Cambridge Road Mosque.
Archbishop Kevin McDonald states that Inter Faith Week “is an opportunity to take some kind of initiative in the area of relations with people of other Religions. This year it falls in the same year that Pope Benedict has convened another Assisi Day of Prayer for Peace. This event marked the 25th anniversary of the first Day for Peace convened by Pope John Paul in 1986. The relationship between interreligious work and the quest for peace in the world does provide us with a real focus for our work. Meeting God in Friend and Stranger [the bishops’ teaching document on interreligious dialogue] continues to offer us ideas and encouragement for taking this vital agenda forward."
The involvement of Catholics in Inter Faith Week, will illustrate the words of Pope Benedict XVI at his recent Day of Prayer for Peace at Assisi: “We are animated by the common desire to be ‘pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace’.”, as well as the sentiment that he expressed during his September 2010 visit to Great Britain, when addressing representatives of other religions: “Catholics, both in Britain and throughout the world, will continue to work to build bridges of friendship to other religions.” Inter Faith Week is an excellent opportunity to do so, and to remember the importance of these bridges throughout the year.
For more information see: http://www.interfaithweek.org
Meeting God in Friend and Stranger is available for free download at www.catholicchurch.org.uk/interreligious.
The full text of the Pope’s address at the Day of Prayer for Peace is available athttp://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/travels/2011/index_assisi_en.htm The full text of the Pope’s address to religious leaders during the UK visit in September 2010 can be found here:http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/Replay-the-Visit/Speeches/Speeches-17-September/Pope-Benedict-s-Speech-to-Representatives-of-other-Religions http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19304 |
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