Committee for Interreligious Dialogue
The Scottish Bishops' Committee for Interreligious Dialogue exists to make Catholics and others aware of the importance of interreligious dialogue within the life of the Church.
Enjoy browsing this site to discover more about the work of the Committee and how you might get involved.
"Although sadly evil, hatred and division often make news there is a hidden sea of goodness that is growing and leads us to hope in dialogue, reciprocal knowledge and the possibility of building, together with the followers of other religions and all men and women of goodwill, a world of fraternity and peace."
Pope Francis, August 29th, 2019
Interfaith News & Events from the Scottish Bishops' Committee
Scottish Interfaith Week this year will take place during the week of 10th – 17th November 2019.
Taking the theme "Eat, Share, Love" the week is an opportunity to learn about each other’s faith or culture by sharing food and stories. Enjoy a meal together, share recipes and skills, cook together or for each other. Eat, sing, dance, talk, create, innovate, experience and most importantly, enjoy. Getting involved is easy. You can organise anything from a small gathering in your home or community centre to a large event in your local place of worship, school or library.
SIFW brings people together whilst promoting dialogue, understanding and co-operation between Scotland’s diverse religious communities and cultures. For more information visit the website.
The Scottish Bishops' Committee is delighted with the recent news of plans for a new massive interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, encompassing a mosque, a church and a synagogue.
The facility, to be known as the Abrahamic Family House, will be located on Saadiyat Island in the United Arab Emirates' capital city, right next to the new Louvre Abu Dhabi. Abraham of the Old Testament is considered a holy prophet in all three religions.
Read this article from Newsweek for more details, or read this article from the Vatican for more about the visionary Architect chosen to design the buildings.
It's been a busy summer for the Bishops' Committee for Interreligious Dialogue: we've had our successful Colloquium on Faith in Public Life. We have welcomed 5th year Seminarians studying for the priesthood for various Scottish dioceses and taken them on visits to interfaith places of worship. School pupils from Notre Dame and Holyrood Secondary Schools visited the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art to prepare for Interfaith Week. Archbishop Leo Cushley was a guest and spoke at the Eid dinner hosted by the Scottish Ahl-ulBayt Society. And we had an enjoyable interfaith barbecue! Follow this link for more about our summer events.
October 10th 2019 will mark the 20th anniversary of Interfaith Scotland, which was established to promote and facilitate constructive engagement between different faith and belief communities across Scotland through dialogue, educational activities, civic engagement and the promotion of religious equality.
The annual meeting of the Scottish Religious Leaders' Forum will be held in Glasgow University in the afternoon of the 10th and will be followed by an evening celebration of the wonderful work of Interfaith Scotland.
Please put the date in your diary and look here later in the summer for more details.
The Archbishop's Reception
Archbishop Conti's Annual Reception for Faith Leaders will take place on October 16th.
The Scottish Bishops' Committee for Interreligious Dialogue would like to congratulate all the newly appointed Cardinals, but two in particular, who have been dedicated to interfaith.
They are the current President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, His Excellency Bishop Miguel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ., and a former President, well known to us here in Scotland, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald MAfr.
BUILDING A HOME TOGETHER – A COLLOQUIUM ON FAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE
Our Colloquium on Faith in Public Life - Building a Home Together - was a great success. In our Blog Section Sr Isabel Smyth has written a reflection on the Colloquium. And you can click here for a full report and photographs of the weekend.
