Earlier in the year, Fr Pat Colgan of the Columban Interreligious Dialogue (IRD) Ministry in Ireland, along with Adrian Cristea and Diogo Vara of the Dublin City Interfaith Forum, visited their fellow IRD missionaries, Mauricio Silva, Natalie Marytsch and Fr Ray Collier, of the Columban IRD Ministry in Birmingham, England. Following is a summary of their visit.
DAY 1: We arrive at Fatima House, a shelter for female asylum seekers in Birmingham who would otherwise be destitute and homeless. It is a Columban initiative in partnership with Fr Hudson’s Care. Columban IRD co-ordinator Mauricio Silva is also co-ordinator of Fatima House. Here, we catch up with each other and discuss our schedule.
We begin with a visit to meet Abdullah Rehman, community development manager of the Muslim charity Hazrat Sultan Bahu Trust. He shares about his work in interfaith relations in the inner-city area of Balsall Heath. Abdullah explains that the area was once the centre of drugs and prostitution but is now a model of relative calm, thanks to residents who claimed back their streets through protests in the 1990s. Abdullah, with a local community support police officer, tours the community on foot every Monday morning, greeting people and hearing their concerns.
Back at Fatima House, we meet with Ruth Jacobs, a Jewish community leader of the West Midlands and co-founder of the Jewish/Muslim women’s organisation Nisa-Nashim. Ruth shared frankly about the pain she feels in recent months over events in Israel-Hamas, and the anti-Semitic bias she believes is present in British society and media.
We finish day one at the Sikh Nishkam Centre in Handsworth, which is connected to Guru Nanak Sewak Jatha Gurdwara. Our host, Kiran Jheeta, took us on a tour of the large prayer room where the Guru Granth Sahib is recited continuously 24/7.
DAY 2: We begin with a visit to Birmingham Central Mosque. Nasreen, one of the faith guides trained by Mauricio a few years ago, gives us a tour. We later sit down with Dr Khurram Bashir and three other Pakistani-born committee members to discuss at length matters of mutual interest, such as how to reach out to our youth in mosque/churches.
We return to Fatima House for lunch with Pat Witney of the Focolare Movement, which has prioritised interfaith dialogue as part of their charism/mission of promoting unity. We are joined by Mahmooda Qureshi, programs co-ordinator of the Faith & Belief Forum, an organisation that works to build positive relations between people of all faiths and beliefs.
Later we meet with Canon Andrew Smith, an interfaith advisor to the Anglican Communion in Birmingham, and his colleague, Jill Appleton, of the The Feast movement, which promotes “Talking Faith, Making Friends, Changing Lives” among teenagers.
Next, Fr Julian of All Saints Anglican Church welcome us for a visit. We are joined by Nasrin Shah and her niece of the neighbouring Hussainia Mosque. Together we also visit the mosque for a warm visit with two Sheikhs (Imams).
DAY 3: This morning Diogo and I are brought by Fr Ray Collier to a project he attends each Wednesday morning called Root and Branches, which is a social and interfaith space open to all. Predominantly women, they meet in the converted bakery of a former Anglican convent where they chat and make plans to visit each other’s places of worship and participate together in charitable activities.
Later we meet with the ‘B8’ Community Action group (B8 refers to the postcode of Birmingham in which the former St John Divine convent is located). Chaired by local activist Mohammad Ali, it comprises representatives of local statutory faith, and voluntary groups all active in B8, who discuss common concerns and network to alleviate the challenges they are facing in the community.
Next, we join an online meeting – Building Resilience Among Our Youth in the Face of Online Hate Speech – organised by the US-based Children of Abraham Coalition. Pete Kurtz-Glovas of the School of Public Affairs of the University of America spoke about the risk of youth becoming radicalised via social media channels.
DAY 4: We begin with a meeting with Peter Rookes from the Birmingham Council of Faiths, who explain their main activities, such as running a health/wellbeing forum and a biweekly one-hour radio program on IRD through Unity FM in Birmingham.
We then visit the Shia Al-Abbas Islamic Centre. Shenaz Sajan and her colleague Naseem give us a tour of the centre. We discuss the role of the ‘Mahdi’, who, along with Jesus, will inaugurate the end times, and a golden age of justice and prosperity.
Shenaz and Naseem, along with Maria Joao of the Focolare Movement, Columban Fr John Collins and Violet Owens of the Baha’i Community in Birmingham, join us for lunch at the nearby Damasena café. Diogo and I share about the recent work of the Dublin City Interfaith Forum.
We finish the day with a visit to the Unity Centre and Mosque, where we re greeted by its director and Imam, Qiyam. We engaged in a wide-ranging discussion on our scriptures.
Conclusion
Although the issue of the Gaza/Israel conflict was never far from anyone’s thoughts, and occasionally moved centre stage in interfaith conversations, these were conducted in a sensitive way. The fact that partners ‘across the divide’ are still choosing to talk rather than withdraw from each other in anger and disillusionment, is a tribute to many years of building and maintaining those relationships.
Columban Fr Pat Colgan.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban Interfaith eBulletin
