Miryam Meals

29 February 2008

Miryam Meal endeavour of hope for Catholics and Muslims

29 February 2008

Muslims and Catholics united around the personality of Virgin Mary at the first Miryam Meal held by the Australian Intercultural Society and St Paul Apostle Catholic Community Ecumenical & Interfaith Committee last night.

This project is a product of the historic agreement between the Australian Intercultural Society and the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.

Covering the theme ‘Importance of Dialogue in Our Faith’ Dr Salih Yucel, Lecturer at Monash University and Father John Pearce, Parish Priest, spoke on the pertinence of dialogue for human beings.

“There are some extremists who do not understand the essence of religion and question why people are coming together for interfaith dialogue,” said Dr Yucel.

“First and foremost, God entered into a dialogue with humanity through the Prophets.”

The significance of coming together around shared symbols was emphasised.

“These stories and images are important for us to build upon,” said Father John.

“Australia today needs men and women like us, who are prepared to walk on the same side of the road and say ‘hello’.”

But dialogue does not mean the glossing over of difference.

“We don’t have to have the same prayer,” said Father John.

“We can have our own faith and treasure our faith.  When I heard Dr Yucel talk about Mary, I appreciated my faith tradition through another lens.”

“This is not the beginning.  This is not the first encounter.  There are the behind the scenes.”

And this will not be last encounter.

Miryam Meals will be hosted on numerous occasions throughout 2008 in order to consolidate the growing friendship between the Catholic and Muslim communities of Melbourne.

The Australian Intercultural Society and the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in July 2007, entering into a formal understanding for the three year period 2007-2009.

The Memorandum of Understanding sketches joint activities in four key areas of dialogue: Dialogue of Life, Dialogue of Action, Dialogue of Understanding, and Dialogue of Religious Experience.

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