The annual event was co-hosted by Australian Catholic University (ACU) and Speaker of the House Milton Dick MP in Canberra on 21 November.

It brought together more than 200 attendees, including parliamentarians and faith leaders.

Kohn highlighted the risks of ignoring religion's contributions to society.

Australian democracy relied on acknowledging the contributions of religion and history, not "distorting the past and pouring contempt on our faith traditions" she said.

Criticising what she called the "Vanguard of the New", Kohn noted that misrepresenting the past undermines the values underpinning democratic progress.

"The Vanguard of the New presents our history as a litany of failure, denies every virtue that our forebears upheld and rubbishes every step of progress that they laboured to achieve in the most adverse circumstances."

Mission to foster harmony

Drawing from her family's experiences of Nazism and Communism in Czechoslovakia, Kohn described how their suffering shaped her rejection of totalitarian ideologies.

She now advocates for religion's positive role in promoting dignity, community and shared purpose.

She cited St Mary MacKillop's example of collaboration across faiths, noting how a Jewish businessman provided shelter for MacKillop's school during her temporary excommunication. Such stories, she argued, reflect religion's ability to unite people in shared values.

Vice-Chancellor of ACU, Professor Zlatko Skrbis, praised Kohn's speech saying it echoed the interfaith breakfast's mission to foster harmony.

"For a decade, this event has brought together people of diverse faiths and backgrounds to engage in dialogue, prayer and reflection" he said.

Kohn produced and presented more than 1,700 programmes in her career, during which she interviewed thousands of respected religious leaders. Her guests included Archbishops, Chief Rabbis, the Dalai Lama and local clerics.

She also spoke with imams, laypeople, professionals and scholars. Additionally, she highlighted "unsung heroes" who discovered a greater purpose through their faith.

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kohn was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the broadcast media - particularly radio, as a creator, producer and presenter, and to Jewish studies".

Sources

Australian Catholic University

CathNews New Zealand

A new reformation for the 21st century must transcend "the current forms and boundaries of Christianity," resist simplistic answers to contemporary challenges and contribute to uniting into ‘One Body' all of humanity, together with all of creation.

On the second day of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Thirteenth Assembly in Kraków, Poland, keynote speaker Monsignor Tomáš Halík urged participants from across the global Lutheran communion to be "witnesses to the ongoing resurrection of the Giver of Hope,".

They could do this by working for a spiritual renewal that goes beyond national, religious, social or cultural boundaries, he said.

Ecclesia semper reformanda

In his keynote address to delegates attending the 13 to 19 September Assembly, Halík recalled that the Church must be "ever reforming, […] especially in times of great change and crisis in our common world."

Reformation is necessary, he said, "where form hinders content, where it inhibits the dynamism of the living core."

Looking back to the Lutheran and Catholic Reformations of the 16th century, he noted that they "renewed and deepened Christianity, but they also divided it."

The 20th century, he said, "saw the beginning of two great parallel reformations - the global expansion of Pentecostal Christianity and the Second Vatican Council," marking the Catholic Church's transition from "confessional closedness […] to universal ecumenical openness."

But the ecumenism of the 21st century, he continued, must go much further than the ecumenism of the previous one.

Just as St Paul had the courage to lead "Christianity out of the narrow confines of one of the Jewish sects and into the broader ecumene" during "the first reformation," Halík said, Christianity today has a role.

Christianity today needs "to transcend existing mental and institutional, confessional, cultural and social boundaries in order to fulfil its universal mission."

Faith and critical thinking

Reflecting on the "constant struggle between grace and sin, faith and unbelief, waged in every human heart," he called for an "honest dialogue" between believers and unbelievers living together in pluralistic societies.

"Faith and critical thinking need each other," he insisted, adding that a "mature faith can live with the open questions of the time and resist the temptation of the too-simple answers offered by dangerous contemporary ideologies."

Turning to questions of religious identity, he noted that "populists, nationalists and religious fundamentalists exploit this fear [of identity loss] for their own power and economic interests."

They exploit it, he said, "in the same way that the fear for the salvation of one's soul was exploited when indulgences were for sale" in Luther's days.

Comparing Luther to the Catholic mystics of that era, he said, "I am convinced that Luther's theology of the cross needs to be renewed, rethought and deepened today."

Part of the new reformation or "new evangelization," Halík said, "is also a transformation of the way of mission. We cannot approach others as arrogant possessors of truth."

The goal of mission, he reflected, "is not to recruit new church members, to squeeze them into the existing mental and institutional boundaries of our churches but to go beyond" to create a "mutually enriching dialogue" with those of other beliefs and none.

Reconciliation and spiritual discernment

In central and eastern Europe, Halík said, where countries suffered "the dark night of communist persecution," Churches have an important role to play in the process of reconciliation.

"Democracy cannot be established and sustained merely by changing political and economic conditions" he warned, but instead requires "a certain moral and spiritual climate."

Halík also warned that Churches that become corrupted by political regimes deprive themselves of a future. "When the Church enters into culture wars with its secular environment, it always comes out of them defeated and deformed."

The alternative to culture wars, he noted, "is not conformity and cheap accommodation, but a culture of spiritual discernment."

A renewed and newly understood Christian spirituality, he concluded, "can make a significant contribution to the spiritual culture of humanity today, even far beyond the churches." Read more

• Tomáš Halík served as advisor to Václav Havel, the first Czech president following the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War. A professor of sociology and head of the Religious Studies Department at Prague's Charles University, he is also the recipient of numerous awards for his work to promote human rights, religious freedom and interfaith dialogue.

Urging hope seems to ignore charred bodies in a kibbutz and bombed refugee camps, to mock victims of hate crimes, to disregard the failed peace agreements and war machines that crisscross the sky.

Countering rhetoric and policies

At the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, we have worked for 13 years to counter the rhetoric and policies that demonise American Muslims and others perceived to be Muslim — Arab, Palestinian, Sikh and South Asian Americans.

Our coalition draws people of faith and goodwill beyond the Muslim community, primarily Christians and Jews, to take responsibility and take action to counter anti-Muslim discrimination.

Our coalition is diverse, spanning the political and theological spectrum.

It requires us to meet communities where they are, holding space and creating plans for their next steps.

This could be lobbying Congress, advocating for inclusive school holiday calendars, caring for recent immigrants and refugees, or having meals and conversations with Muslim neighbours.

Keeping the faith

Interfaith groups in the United States like ours have too often avoided discussions of Israel and Palestine, choosing to go quiet or pause programmes as violence erupts in the Middle East.

In recent years and now with the sheer violence and division of the past seven months, many involved in interfaith engagement have felt this stance was untenable.

We and others in our space know that in this moment we have a choice between giving up all hope, stopping all of our work and conversations, or continuing to fumble together toward some future we can barely, if ever, see.

We're choosing to find strength in a different kind of hope, one that keeps us connected to our deepest ideals and each other.

In the last seven months, our team has had countless one-on-one calls and meetings with Muslim, Christian, Jewish and interfaith leaders, organisations and congregations.

Our conversations have included people in small interfaith coalitions in rural communities, large interfaith organisations in big cities, corporations, universities, and parents desperate for ways to address the rise in bullying at K-12 schools.

These conversations went something like this:

An organisation or faith leader would reach out, looking for guidance on how to counter the sharp rise in anti-Muslim discrimination, while also addressing the rise in anti-Jewish discrimination.

Some made or shared statements condemning the horrific violence of Hamas and were quickly made aware of how the statements were sometimes playing into well-rehearsed Islamophobic tropes.

Others condemned the horrific violence and bombardment of Gaza's civilians and communities, only to hear that those statements sometimes played into well-rehearsed anti-Jewish tropes.

Many felt caught between a swiftly changing landscape and communities believed to be friends.

Most of us had difficulty disentangling the geopolitical dynamics from the religious drivers of this moment.

It has been bewildering to decouple religious and cultural identities from support for particular governments, armed groups and political parties.

Grief, anger, helplessness

As we, interfaith and community leaders, held space for historical trauma, current fears and systemic injustice, we were also experiencing grief, anger and helplessness as the news on the ground grew darker:

Hostages were not freed, nor was Gaza spared bombardment.

Many communities have questioned whether interfaith relationships and coalitions were even real.

Some decided not to host their annual interfaith iftars; others decided to retreat from engaging, focusing on internal communal needs, which are important to address.

Which brings me back to what hope means, and what it does in our lives.

Hope

In my tradition's Christian and Hebrew Scriptures, hope is concrete — something we stand on, and something that can be ripped away in a disaster, like the roots of a tree in a storm.

These Scriptures were written by and about people who repeatedly had everything taken away, who looked at the setting sun certain that this would be their last day.

For many of them, it was.

From these Scriptures I've learned that when the ground has fallen out from under us, hope, as recorded by our ancestors, is something we practice.

As the activist Mariame Kaba says, hope is a discipline.

This is the hope our ancestors testified to amid hopelessness.

To make way for a practice of hope to grow, we have helped guide individuals and organisational leaders to shift from public statements to private conversations.

We've helped them to tend to relationships with people from different political and theological perspectives and to create space for those with shared identities to process generational trauma and dehumanising narratives.

Communal care like this is foundational when powers and principalities are warring around us and between us.

We have seen Christians and Jews give dates and flowers to Muslims in Ramadan.

Muslims invite Jews and Christians to iftars in their homes for intimate conversations.

People of all faiths gather in silent, prayerful vigil to mourn together in a shared search for peace and to work shoulder to shoulder against discrimination.

What we've learned from leaders around the country is that practicing hope means caring for every life lost in violence.

It means showing up in grief, joy and anger.

It means grounding the struggle for dignity, justice and liberation in the hope for a future in which oppressor and oppressed are liberated from the cycles of oppression.

It is to call out anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim narratives and policies with equal force.

It is to make visible the threads of hope that connect every person to a future with everyone at the table.

Practice hope

To build this future, we need this practice of hope.

We must continue to reach out to our neighbors, elected leaders and faith leaders of every tradition.

Those who want to participate in this practice of hope should call elected officials to demand a nonviolent and permanent resolution to the current violence and demand that our budgets reflect life, not death, funding humanitarian aid, not more weapons.

We should demand that security not be dependent on oppression. We need to learn more about anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish tropes and how to counter them effectively.

We should also support peaceful student protesters who deserve every right to demonstrate and advocate for institutional divestment from war.

We should support creating spaces of safety on campuses for people who disagree, without the use of armed police.

More personally, we need to reach out to neighbours, friends and colleagues who are directly impacted in this moment, including Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs, Jews and Muslims.

Even saying "I'm thinking about you and your family" can begin a connection based on mutual care.

We know this practice transforms the world because we have witnessed it in people who, against all odds, changed the trajectory of their communities.

One iftar, or one cup of tea, will not counter anti-Muslim or anti-Jewish discrimination, but we cannot hope to address our joint concerns if we're strangers to each other.

We've learned from the despair of our communities, ancestors, saints and martyrs that hope is anything but hollow.

In fact, interfaith relationships are the fruits of equally hopeless times past, when interfaith and community leaders in the civil rights and labour movements worked together.

From those leaders and from our Scriptures we've learned that hope is the promise of a future full of life, love and dignity.

Hope is the ground beneath our feet that keeps us planting, reaping, building and growing.

Hope is our connection to the promises of a God who sits in the ash heap with Job, a God who cares for the elderly and the orphan when everything has been lost.

Hope is the practice and the thread that connects us to a future we cannot see when all hope is lost.

So we must keep on reaching out and fumbling forward together, searching for the threads of dignity, equity and justice that will lead us toward communities of mutual flourishing and belonging.

First published in Religion News Service

The Rev. Cassandra Lawrence is a United Methodist provisional deacon and director of strategic communications for the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign: Standing With American Muslims, Advancing American Ideals, a multifaith coalition committed to countering anti-Muslim discrimination and violence in the U.S.

Emphasising the pivotal role of compassion in understanding and addressing global suffering, the scholars issued a joint statement affirming the urgency to mend humanity's afflictions.

The Vatican's Dicastery orchestrated the event for Interreligious Dialogue in partnership with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand and the Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya Buddhist University.

The event drew religious leaders, theologians and scholars from Cambodia, India, Japan, the UK and others.

The colloquium delved into compassion and love as fundamental healing elements for humanity and the planet.

In their joint declaration, the scholars stressed the need for collective action.

They urged collaboration with various sectors, including civil society, governments, media and academic communities.

The purpose is to foster inclusivity and a shared responsibility for a better world.

Cambodia bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, underscored the imperative of creating a unified global family where solidarity and mutual understanding erase division.

Venerable Phra Brahmapundit, a prominent Buddhist figure, highlighted the interconnectedness of humanity and the environment.

Stressing the importance of compassion and its inseparable link with "Metta" (loving-kindness) he advocated using these principles to heal both humanity and the planet from human-made afflictions.

Pope Francis and Karuna

Echoing these sentiments, the scholars underscored the significance of empathy in societal and individual realms.

The scholars advocated for compassionate approaches in political and economic decision-making to curb exclusion and foster justice.

Notably, Pope Francis has repeatedly championed the theme of "Karuna" in interfaith dialogues, acknowledging the convergence between the teachings of Buddha and Jesus.

Stressing the need to transcend selfishness and embrace love, the Pope emphasised the teachings of Buddhist-Christian leaders, urging a global movement rooted in compassion, especially for vulnerable communities.

"At a time in which our human family and planet are facing manifold threats, the need for inter-religious dialogue and collaboration are increasingly necessary" Pope Francis said.

"The Buddha and Jesus understood the need to overcome the egoism that gives rise to conflict and violence" said the pope.

"Even though our respective religious teachings invite us to build a culture of compassion, we often turn a blind eye to today's sufferings.

"We deplore the words and actions that have voluntarily or involuntarily contributed to sow death and destruction, hatred and revenge.

"We need to acknowledge that we belong to one human family and owe everyone equal dignity and respect" the scholars said in their final joint statement.

Sources

La Croix International

CathNews New Zealand

Jamiyah Singapore - the Muslim non-profit organisation behind the award - aims to "work and contribute towards the welfare and overall development of the Muslim community and mankind", according to its website mission statement.

"Inter-religious dialogue is not an optional extra: it is part of the evangelising mission of the Church," said Seow, a member of the Canossian Daughters of Charity, at the award ceremony.

She said "an effective way of making Jesus known and loved is to be with our sisters and brothers of other faiths so that they will know we are Christians by our love, our acceptance and our words.

"May all of us work quietly for inter-religious peace and harmony in our everyday lives, guided by God's Spirit of peace, because human efforts alone will not make peace happen."

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who presented the award, said interfaith harmony is not just an intellectual idea or attitude of mind.

It is an active and concerted practice in Singapore, he said. This is not just among religious leaders, but also in day-to-day matters of religious institutions.

He gave examples of interfaith cooperation. Of mosques and churches coordinating on practical day-to-day matters such as traffic and the sharing of parking spaces. Those same mosques and churches also invite congregants to their respective festivities.

"Interfaith harmony is a distinctive part of our identity," he said.

Seow's work

Seow has been involved in interfaith dialogue since the 1990s.

She is a member of the Singapore Archdiocesan Catholic Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue.

Since 1995 she's been the archdiocesan representative to Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore (IRO), an interfaith forum.

In 2003, Seow became the IRO's first woman president.

She was appointed by Pope John Paul II as a consultor of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue and held that position from 2001 to 2004.

Seow is the executive director of Canossaville, a children and community services facility run by her congregation.

Singapore's multi-mix

Multi-religious, multi-cultural Singapore has a 5.64 million population which includes about 31.1 percent Buddhists, 18.9 percent Christians (including about 360,000 Catholics in 32 parishes), 15.6 percent Muslims and five percent Hindus, official data from 2021 says.

Followers of traditional Chinese faiths such as Taoism account for 8.8 percent.

Source

• UCA News

It is in the timbre of her voice and the conviction of her words.

The 71-year-old, who has been bestowed a Queen's Service Medal for services to interfaith communities on the King's Birthday and Coronation Honours List, is quick to share the honour with those she has worked alongside. Read more

Cottrell said he felt encouraged to have met people within the Roman Catholic Church leadership after meeting Pope Francis at the Anglican Centre on Monday.

His audience with Francis "further consolidated the strong bonds of friendship between our two World Communions," he said.

"We are now looking forward to further co-operation between the Dicasteries of the Vatican and the Anglican Centre in Rome."

These meetings focussed on evangelisation and ecumenism-building interfaith connections.

To this end, the Anglican archbishop met with the Vatican's Dicasteries for Evangelisation, Promoting Christian Unity, Interreligious Dialogue and Promoting Integral Human Development.

"My prayer is that Christians of all denominations can work together more and be united in our desire to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, as we look to share the love of God as seen in Jesus with the many in our world who long for hope and meaning in their lives," he said.

On Wednesday, Cottrell met Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from the Dicastery for Evangelisation. Their discussion, entitled "The Ecumenical Impact on Evangelisation", was live-streamed from the Anglican Centre.

Archbishop Ian Ernest, the Director of the Anglican Centre and the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the Holy See organised his visit.

The Anglican Centre is a vital link between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. They work on shared projects and offer opportunities for study, hospitality and encounter.

Ernst said Cottrell's visit "comes as an affirmation of the longing of the Anglican Communion to diligently and constantly work for the visible unity of Christians.

"The personal commitment of Archbishop Stephen, in the different callings he has exercised, to encourage a collaborative spirit amongst different groups of people, in spite of cultural, denominational and religious differences, inspires and encourages us to carry forward with love the mission entrusted to the Anglican Centre in Rome."

Source

• Church Times
• Independent Catholic News

As king, Charles is the supreme governor of the Church of England.

Speaking for the 12-member delegation, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster pledged his church's allegiance to the new king.

"For so many years, we have observed your desire and unstinting efforts to explore and enhance the well-being of the entire human family, through your commitment to religious faith, protection of the environment and relief of poverty," Nichols said.

"The Catholic community is profoundly supportive of these fundamental concerns, as we strive to offer our society, your kingdom, an education for young people that is rooted in faith and its consequent commitment to human dignity."

The March 9 ceremony also heard similar pledges made by representatives of numerous other Christian denominations and religious and academic communities.

Nichols said British Catholics remembered the "remarkable and unique role" played by the king's late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and would give "support and prayers" to Charles III, while also appreciating his "steadfast opposition to religious persecution".

Charles paid tribute to the contribution of churches and other associations to the UK's "national fabric" and to advancing mutual knowledge and understanding.

"You underpin the very foundations on which our country is built and help construct a framework of excellence and achievement within which our civil society functions and our national narrative can be formed," Charles said.

Britain's Catholic community held "together in a common faith" people from "different nationalities, languages, cultures and customs," Nichols said.

The Catholic faith required "a particular concern" toward those "fleeing violence and poverty" and "trapped in human trafficking and modern slavery".

Catholics share the monarch's view that society could thrive only "through a clear collective commitment to vital principles of freedom of conscience, generosity of spirit and care for others".

Catholic coronation heritage

As yet details of a Catholic role in the upcoming coronation haven't been announced.

The Protestant service will be held, as it has for nine centuries, in Westminster Abbey.

It will be organised, according to tradition, by the Duke of Norfolk, Edward Fitzalan-Howard — Britain's highest-ranking noble and most senior lay Catholic.

The ceremony will feature a Gospel choir and Greek Orthodox music in memory of the King's Greek-born father, Prince Philip, and the Latin Veni Creator Spiritus used at episcopal consecrations.

Buckingham Palace sources says the religious ceremony will be representative of different faiths and community groups, in line with the king's wishes. They also say the traditional coronation oath to preserve the "rights and privileges" of Protestant bishops and clergy was likely to be modified.

Joseph Shaw, chairman of England's Latin Mass Society, says the royal coronation ceremony, dating back a thousand years, remains "powerfully and profoundly Catholic" in design.

"The idea of monarchy remains consonant with Catholic conceptions for the ordering of society under God. Whatever the personal limitations of particular monarchs, monarchy is something Catholics should cherish for what it represents."

As Prince of Wales, Charles pledged to uphold his church's role in "protecting the free practice of all religious faiths".

Source

• Our Sunday Visitor

Their vision of an inter-religious gathering to show their support was realised in Paris last Saturday, when they joined with Catholics and Christians of other religions in song and prayer.

The celebration of inter-faith togetherness was organised by Christian movement Efesia as part of its "Together with Mary" inter-religious group.

President of Efesia, Gerard Testard, said he was delighted to see "our Muslim friends come as if visiting a wounded person."

Paris' Auxiliary Bishop Denis Jachiet represented Catholics, Anouar Kbibech, Vice-President of the French Council of Muslim Worship, represented the Sunni Muslims, while Sheikh Mohamed Ali Mortada represented Shiites.

Jachiet reminded the gathering that the "Notre-Dame is much more than the cathedral of the Catholics of Paris."

Ghaleb Bencheikh, who is an Islamologist and president of the Foundation of Islam in France, shared similar sentiments.

"There will be a first physical reconstruction but also an intangible reconstruction, that of the nation," he said.

In Kbibech 's opinion, this second aspect has already begun.

"Today's meeting symbolises three levels of fraternity: between believers of the same religion, between believers of all faiths and with humanity," he said.

People from the Shiite community are positive about the event.

"We had organized an event around Mary just before the fire, at the Shiite mosque in La Courneuve, with our friends from Efesia. At a meeting, after the disaster, we asked ourselves how we could show our support for the Christian community," one said.

Another commented: "We have come for the union between Muslims and Christians. We want peace in France. We too are with Our Lady". She was "touched" and "sad" when she saw images of the burning cathedral.

Yet another said: "[Notre Dame is] a symbol. When people come to Paris there is the Eiffel Tower, it's true, but Notre-Dame is even more important".

Jachiet was of a similar opinion, saying "Notre-Dame is much more than the cathedral of the Catholics of Paris."

After more than an hour of prayers, songs, readings from the Gospel according to St John and suras from the Quran about the "human gathering," two doves were released.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: La Croix International

In his homily at the Diwali (also called Deepawali or Deepavali) mass, Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Suva spoke of the one God.

The Catholic Church believes and teaches the same God that is present in Christianity is also present in other religions - a belief which is the foundation of interreligious dialogue.

Interreligious dialogue calls for understanding and respect for different religious traditions, which in turn helps us learn more about God, he said.

Turning his focus to Diwali, Loy Chong discussed the festival's symbolism: the victory of good over evil.

"It is with each Deepawali and the lights that illuminate our homes and hearts that this simple truth finds new reason and hope.

"The Deepawali lights and firecrackers remind us of our commitment to truth and goodness. The Christian Festival of Easter also celebrates the victory of Christ over darkness of sin and death."

Chong also spoke of the richness and blessings diverse faith communities offer Fiji.

"In the history of humankind, God has revealed divine truths through religious traditions. Divine truths form the basis of a good and just society. Therefore religion and faith have a public value.

"In other words, religion and faith have a public character and, as such, must be valued for their contribution to society. Religion cannot be removed to the private sphere of society.

"Fiji is blessed with a diversity of religious traditions. May our religious diversities be a source of strength, unity and richness," he said.

Source

• Fiji Times
• Image: Fiji Sun

At present, all other religions besides Wahhabite Islam are prohibited.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has recently begun a series of social reforms.

They have raised the hopes of Christian communities in the Middle East.

The reforms have resulted in Saudi leaders meeting representatives of other Christian traditions in recent months, suggesting a more open environment in the kingdom which hosts Islam's holiest sites.

On Wednesday Salman met Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran.

Tauran is the president of the Pontifical Council for Interfaith Dialogue at the Vatican.

It is the first visit to the kingdom by such a senior Catholic authority and the first between the current Saudi ruler and a Catholic official.

Tauran's visit was welcomed by the Global Center for the Combating Extremist Ideology.

Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League (MWL), and Tauran signed a cooperation agreement on achieving common objectives.

This agreement represents the culmination of the previous cooperation agreement signed between the MWL and the Pontifical Council, following Al-Issa's visit to the Vatican last September.

At that time, Al-Issa met with the Pope and Tauran.

Tauran praised the MWL's efforts in leading initiatives to strengthen relationships and build bridges between religions.

"... I am fully aware of the relentless efforts exerted to make it through its various programmes, really reflect the true meaning of its name, a link, not only among Muslims but also with believers of other religions, especially Christians, to achieve common goals," he says.

More than 1.5 million Christians currently live in Saudi Arabia.

Despite their number, celebrating Mass or worship is formally prohibited under penalty of arrest by the Saudi religious police.

Various religious groups have continued to operate in clandestine fashion, often on diplomatic premises.

Another 1.5 million live in the surrounding emirates, where several churches have already been built.

Source

• Reuters
• Arab News
• Crux
• Image: Twitter

Jews, Christians and Muslims share a common belief in one God, share common characters, like prophets, angels and Satan and similar codes of morality, social responsibility and accountability.

They also exclude women from religious and spiritual leadership. Read more

Balliol College's Junior Common Room, which represents undergraduates, initially refused the CU a stall, fearing it would be "harmful" to students because of Christianity's links with "neo-colonialism" and "homophobia". Read more

The interfaith celebration was organised by the Catholic Bhopal Archdiocese, based in the capital of Madhya Pradesh state. The march culminated in an inter-religious prayer gathering.

The event marked the 148th anniversary of Gandhi's birth. He led India's struggle for freedom from British rule while advocating non-violent methods. Read more

"...the world is looking to us; it asks us to work together and with all men and women of good will," Francis said.

The representatives came from the seven main religious groups on the Korean peninsula. They were in Rome for an interfaith pilgrimage, amid growing tensions between North Korea and the United States.

Stressing the importance of inter-religious dialogue directed towards a future of peace and hope, Francis told the leaders it would involve "contacts, encounters and cooperation, a challenge directed towards the common good and peace...[and]...must always be both open and respectful if it is to be fruitful."

One of the leaders was Archbishop Igino Kim Hee-joong, is the president of the Korean Bishops' Conference.

Asking the pope to pray for peace and to help the Korean people was their main reason for visiting him, he said.

The group had decided to appeal to him to help them as they "seek peace not with weapons or sanctions but through dialogue, negotiation and mutual respect at all costs."

Aligning himself with the leaders in response to their appeal, Francis told them the world was looking "to us for answers and a shared commitment to various issues."

Francis said these issues include the:

• Sacred dignity of the human person
• Hunger and poverty which still afflict too many peoples
• Rejection of violence, in particular, that violence which profanes the name of God and desecrates religion
• Corruption that gives rise to injustice, moral decay,
• Crisis of the family, of the economy
• (not least of all) a crisis of hope.

Source

• News.VA
• Crux
• Image: Crux Now

"We hope that the center will encourage harmony and unity among different countries and among different religions," the coordinator Father Leandro Lenin Tavares says.

"We are a symbol of peace, brotherhood and the unity of peoples."

It's no secret that the Olympic Games bring together a diverse pool of people from different ethnicities and cultures.

Competitors have divergent beliefs and lifestyles, particularly when it comes to the practice of faith and religion.

Tavares says the center will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, from July 24-Aug. 24 for Olympic athletes and their delegations and September 1-21 for Paralympic athletes and delegations.

The inter-religious center has five meeting rooms, each occupied by one of the five faiths chosen by the International Olympic Committee: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.

The Catholic Church will represent the Christian faith.

These religions were chosen based on the faith composition of the athletes slated to compete in the Olympic Games.

The center will host not only group meetings and Masses but also will offer individual guidance to those who seek religious support.

But this won't only be limited to the aforementioned religious traditions, as people who subscribe to other faiths will also be able to ask for support.

"Our job is to provide athletes with a place where they can find comfort and spiritual peace, whatever their religion," Tavares says.

Source

• America
• Deseret News
• Image: Pixabay

France's Muslim council, the CFCM, urged Muslims to show "solidarity and compassion" over Father Jacques Hamel's murder.

"We are all Catholics of France," said Anouar Kbibech, the head of the CFCM.

Between 100 and 200 Muslims gathered at the cathedral in Rouen, only a few miles from Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, where the 85-year-old Hamel was killed by two teenage attackers.

"We're very touched," Archbishop Dominique Lebrun told broadcaster BFMTV.

"It's an important gesture of fraternity . They've told us, and I think they're sincere, that it's not Islam which killed Jacques Hamel."

Outside the church, a group of Muslims were applauded when they unfurled a banner: "Love for all. Hate for none."

Similar interfaith gatherings were repeated elsewhere in France, as well as in neighboring Italy.

At Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral, Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Mosque of Paris, said repeatedly that Muslims want to live in peace.

"The situation is serious," he told BFMTV.

"Time has come to come together so as not to be divided."

Three imams also attended Mass at the St. Maria Church in Rome's Trastevere neighborhood, donning their traditional dress as they entered the sanctuary and sat down in the front row.

In a further example of their disgust with the teenage killers, the Muslim community in Normandy is refusing to bury Adel Kermiche.

They say they do not want to "taint" Islam by having any connection to the jihadist.

• Euronews
• CBS News
• Independent
• Image:Daily Mail

The Telegraph reported Archbishop Justin Welby saying faith leaders seemed desperate to hide behind "bland" and "anaemic" statements about what they have in common.

This is instead of facing up to the "profound differences" between them, the archbishop told the annual dinner of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in London.

He warned that the pretence that mainstream religions agree on everything is simply "dishonest".

It risks leaving them impotent to halt the spread of extremism.

The audience included hundreds of Jewish community leaders as well as Muslims, Christians and representatives of other faiths.

Archbishop Welby said religious leaders must work together to provide an "alternative vision" to combat the influence of extremists.

"If we don't do that we leave all the good arguments in the hands of the radicals and that is the great challenge I face, and I believe we all face," he said.

"If we're going to do that we have to come together and we have to have the difficult conversations in safe spaces and that's a very, very difficult thing up do."

He added: "We need to move beyond inter-religious interaction in which we the usual suspects issue bland statements of anaemic intent with which you could paper the walls of Lambeth Palace - and much good would it do you - all desperate to agree with one another so that the very worst outcome could possibly be that we end up acknowledging our differences."

"That is not enough in the face of the dangers we face at this time."

The archbishop said it "is disingenuous and ultimately dishonest because alongside all that we hold in common and all that we share there are profound differences between what we believe and the outworking of our faith".

"True friendships and relationships can withstand honesty about differences in values, opinions and religious understandings and a common commitment to mutual flourishing in diversity," he said.

Source

• The Telegraph
• Image: The Guardian

The first national mosque open day, to be held on October 25, will see non-Muslims invited to take tours of mosques and to ask questions of Islamic leaders.

It will be followed by a "Walk Together" march in 20 cities organised by an interfaith group, Welcome to Australia.

The National Unity Day events were announced by Muslim, Christian and Jewish community leaders at Sydney's Pitt Street Uniting Church on October 8, the Guardian Australia reported.

The president of the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) in Australia, Samier Dandan, said the day was about "demonstrating to the wider community that our mosques are open", an openness he hoped would be taken up by in the general public.

"If you have a question, go straight to the source, do your own research, find out what a Muslim stands for, what a Christian stands for, what a Jew stands for.

"I guarantee that you that what you'll find is that 99 per cent between the different faiths is common," he said.

Mr Dandan said the LMA was implementing other interfaith projects, including organising visits between private Islamic and Jewish schools "to cross-pollinate their mindsets".

These moves come at a time when Muslims are feeling increasingly marginalised in Australia and there is disturbing evidence of hate crimes across the country.

Maha Abdo, the chief executive the Muslim Women's Association in Australia, said the debate around Islam in the past weeks, including last week's ban on people with facial coverings sitting in federal Parliament's open public gallery, had made Muslims "fearful and anxious".

But she was heartened by the backlash to the burqa decision, including Prime Minister Tony Abbott's request to Parliament's presiding officers to reconsider the ruling.

Uniting Church Australia president Reverend Andrew Dutney said it was important that Christians loved their neighbours as themselves.

Rabbi Adam Stein, from the conservative Kehilat Nitzan Synagogue in Melbourne, also leant his support to the initiative.

"A National Day of Unity helps us remember that there are more ­issues that unite us than divide us," Rabbi Stein said.

Sources

• Guardian Australia
• The Australian
• St George and Sutherland Shire Leader
• Image: The Guardian

Berlin Rabbi Tovia Ben Chorin, Imam Kadir Sanci and Pastor Gregor Hohberg hope their dream can become a reality.

The trio hope Christians, Jews and Muslims will soon study and pray together.

The city has already given approval for the construction of the "House of One" on the Petriplatz square in downtown Berlin.

Construction costs are estimated at 43.5 million euros and funding is entirely through donations.

In an online crowd-funding campaign, the three clerics are asking people from around the world to contribute by buying bricks for the building for 10 euros each.

Since launching the campaign at the start of June they have received a little more than 35,000 euros.

Meanwhile, believers of the different faiths have already used the future site of the House of One for joint open-air prayers.

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