Christianity – Interreligious Dialogue in Scotland

Dr Duncan MacLaren

Over 100 people from the Shia and Catholic communities with other invited guests attended this event organised by the Scottish Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue and the Ahl Al-Beit Society- Scotland in Glasgow’s City Chambers on 7th February.

The purpose of the conference was to celebrate Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, the document signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, in Abu Dhabi in 2019. The United Nations celebrates the document on 4th February every year as the International Day of Human Fraternity to promote “cultural and religious tolerance, understanding and dialogue”.

16906 Uae Human Fraternity 600 384 — Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb signed the 'Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together' on February 4th in Abu Dhabi. [Photo courtesy of the UAE Embassy in Lebanon]

Every year, the Bishops’ Interreligious Committee and the Shia Ahl Al-Beit Society organise a conference to help publicise the document, urge people of faith to study its contents and help bring the document alive in the public domain.

The two main speakers were Sheikh Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali, a distinguished Muslim scholar, academic, philosopher and theologian who has spoken on interfaith issues in many countries over the last twenty-five years and Bishop Brian McGee, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles and President of the Scottish Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue. They both tackled the document’s challenges and possibilities for us in the contemporary world.

Conference 3 — Joseph Sikora, Secretary of the Bishops' Committee, with Keynote Speakers Dr. Shomali and Bishop McGee alongside Azzam Mohamad of Ahl Al Bait - Scotland

Sheikh Shomali reminded us that, whether we are Muslim or Christian, we both face remarkably similar challenges and possibilities. He began his talk by reminding us that the document had been well received around the world and mentioned that Pope Francis was inspired to write his own encyclical (Fratelli Tutti) on universal fraternity.

The Sheikh talked about our common humanity under God and, how reminding ourselves of our divine source, we should manifest love in our lives and centre on reconciling people, bringing them together. He cited the Holy Qu’ran that even reconciling two people who were alienated from one another was better than one year of fasting and praying - though these two are necessary in our lives as well! If we ignore our common humanity, we will often treat people as animals and not as creatures of God. He cited the Holy Qu’ran that God’s best plan was to create human beings though he gave us free will. Too often, we misuse our divine creation by shedding blood or creating mischief and that is when we forget that we share a common humanity. Unity does not come through the sword but in manifesting God’s love, mercy, and kindness and to work for reconciliation - to bring people together. Sheikh Shomali, who is based in London, ended with a word of admiration for our interfaith efforts in Scotland.

Bishop Brian, fresh from a 13-hour dash by ferry and train from Barra, reminded us of the good that religion can do in the face of many who judge it solely as a divisive force because “we believe in a Creator and the world is not merely a planet but part of Creation, entrusted to us by the Creator. People of faith ought to be more inspired than anyone else.” He then declared the Document on Human Fraternity as one excellent example of what Faith can offer in terms of its wisdom. He said, “From its very first sentence the document challenges us with the importance of equality in rights, duties, and dignity and seeks to encourage us with the values of goodness, love, and peace.....It has been welcomed by many political and intellectual leaders throughout the world as, in the words of the United Nations’ Secretary General, António Guterres, a ‘model of interfaith harmony and human solidarity’ and an inspiration to ‘renew our commitment to stand together as one human family’”.

Bishop Brian also welcomed the presence of young Muslims and Catholics from schools and universities in the City Chambers to learn about and, above all, put into action the document’s vision not just in a theoretical but practical way which leads to people treating one another with respect, promotes listening to the other person and his or her faith tradition and learning about our similarities of belief. In addition, Bishop Brian emphasised that we should also appreciate our differences and work together to improve life for all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

In the second half of the evening, the participants at round tables discussed the talks and put their thoughts down on paper as to how we could continue to bring people of different faiths together. These have now been typed up and will be distributed to everyone who registered.

As we left the City Chambers, I spoke to some pupils who attended the event from St Roch's Secondary School in Glasgow as they had taken part in interfaith activities during Interfaith Week. They told me they enjoyed the talks and the discussion in groups at the Human Fraternity event and how proud they were of their school’s diversity.

The evening concluded with the presentation of lifetime achievement awards to Sr Isabel Smyth SND, former Secretary of the Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue, and Azzam Mohammad, Director of the Ahl Al-Beit Society. Both have been involved in interreligious dialogue and action for many years and their interactions have resulted in a close friendship. Congratulations to them both.

Conference 4 — Sr Isabel Smyth SND, recipient of the Lifetime Service Award

Dr Duncan MacLaren is the representative of the Archdiocese of Glasgow on the Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue.

Pictured in our header image: Duncan MacLaren, Joseph Sikora, Bishop McGee, Azzam Mohamad and Sr. Isabel (presented with awards for lifetime service of interfaith dialogue), Ahmed Khweir and Fr. Charles Coyle.

Human Fraternity Conference in Glasgow Read More »

May 8 2023

CFRIRR Report May 2023

Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue, Latest Updates

Churches Forum for Interreligious Relations

Recently I represented the Committee at the first in person residential conference of the Churches Forum for Interreligious Relations, since the COVID pandemic.

Held in the tranquil setting of the Quaker Woodbrooke Centre, Birmingham, this was a chance for me to meet and establish links with people from all over the UK who have, in many cases devoted their lives work to developing interfaith relations.

The first keynote speaker was Dr Elizabeth Harris on dialogue with Buddhists and what it means for Christian faith and witness. Her involvement with Buddhism was the result of what she calls a “pivotal visit to Sri Lanka in my early thirties” which led to her studying Buddhism there. She lived in the country for over seven years was inspired and influenced by Fr. Aloysius Pieris SJ. Her reflections on living among and engaging in interfaith dialogue with Buddhism was truly enlightening.

Later on the first evening, Canon Andrew Smith, Director of Interfaith Relations for the Bishop of Birmingham, spoke about the changing face of multi-faith Britain and Birmingham in particular, exploring the challenges and successes of positive inter faith dialogue. Of particular interest was his explanation of the diversity within the Muslim community.

The first day concluded with a discussion of the Interfaith Relations Paper produced by IFTAG (the Inter Faith Theological Advisory Group) with a reflection on the role of mission and evangelisation.

On day two, the keynote speaker was Rev. Dr John Parry, a United Reformed Minister who has studied Sikhism for over 30 years. He quickly took us through the history of Christian/Sikh encounters from the first encounters through trade and empire through to the present day. He highlighted some of the real benefits to communities that come with well established interfaith links and also pointed towards some of the fundamental missteps that can occur when entering into a dialogue with different faith groups.

What came across most strongly from this meeting to me, as a newcomer, was the incredible levels of commitment and collaboration that exists within the Christian community as a whole to advancing interfaith dialogue. It also demonstrated how powerful interfaith dialogue can be in building up communities and strengthening responses to issues of significant social and moral concern.

Joseph Sikora, Secretary of the Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue

CFRIRR Report May 2023 Read More »

Oct 2 2022

What if?

Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue, Judaism

by Sr Isabel Smyth SND

There are some events in life that are of such significance that we can’t help asking ‘what if that had not happened?’ How differently would things have turned out. Such an event was a 20-minute meeting that a Jewish historian, Jules Isaac, had with Pope John XXIII in June 1959 that changed forever the relationship of the Catholic Church to the Jewish community. This changing relationship is a story of hope and transformation spelled out last week for the Scottish Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue at their annual seminar, entitled ‘A Tale of Two Sisters: Church and Synagogue’ which was led by Sister Maureen Cusick, a Sister of Our Lady of Sion, a religious congregation that is committed to witnessing to God’s continued and faithful love for the Jewish people through education and dialogue.

synagogua We began by reflecting on a series of illustrations of statues found in many medieval cathedrals around Europe, sometimes carved standing side by side, sometimes standing on either side of the entrance They depict two women. One is weak and drooping, blindfolded and carrying a broken lance with Torah scrolls that are often seen slipping from her hand. The other is strong, often wearing a crown and looking to the future with confidence and open eyes. The blind woman represents the Synagogue, blind to the truth and now lost to salvation because the Jews rejected and crucified Jesus. The confident woman represents the Christian Church upon whom God has bestowed the promises God originally made to Israel so that Christians now possess the truth of salvation and have become God’s chosen ones, the new People of God. One particularly horrendous statue is found in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris where the blindfold over the ‘Synagoga’ statue is in fact a snake with the implications that has for Judaism being under the sway of the devil.

These statues reflect the attitude of the Christian Church to Jews in medieval Europe and are indicative of a theological approach called supersessionism or replacement theology which is a belief that God has rejected the Jews because they rejected and crucified Jesus. God has now bestowed the promises he made to Israel on the Church that now becomes the New People of God. This theology is very influential. It can affect the way the Christian scriptures are interpreted. For example, in stories such as the wise virgins – the ones who are alert to the coming of the bridegroom are taken as representative of Christianity and the ones who slept and missed his coming taken as representative of Judaism. It influenced the prayer in Catholic churches on Good Friday which prayed for the conversion of the perfidious Jews. It influenced the tradition in the Sisters of Sion who daily prayed that God would forgive the Jews for the death of Jesus for they knew not what they did. It influenced the various pogroms and sermons forced on the Jews over the ages. It influenced the whole history of Christian antisemitism which the Vatican acknowledged was the seed bed in which the hatred that resulted in the Holocaust was able to flourish. It influenced the belief of some Christians that the State of Israel doesn’t have the right to exist. It is, I suspect, something that is deep in the psyche of both Christians and Jews and influences some of our interactions and maybe needs to be addressed at some point. Is there perhaps an incipient suspicion of Christianity on the part of Jews and an incipient superiority on the part of Christians?

Thank God that this attitude to Judaism and this theological approach has been acknowledged, dismissed and disowned by the Catholic Church in the Vatican II document on the Churches Relationship with People of Other Faiths. And it all came about because of that 20-minute interview that Jules Isaac had with Pope John XXIII. Jules Isaac was a historian and educationalist who sought to understand the roots of antisemitism when he experienced the Nazi occupation of his native France. He wrote a book on Jesus and Israel as well as one on The Teaching of Contempt in which he showed that antisemitic interpretations of the scripture were a wrong understanding of the Gospel. It was the meeting with Pope John XXIII that led the Pope to put the Churches relationship to Judaism on the agenda of the Vatican Council and eventually led to Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Churches Attitude to Non-Christian Religions which was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in October 1965, two years after the death of Jules Isaac. Section 4 of the document which declares,” in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone” brought about a profound change in the Church’s relations with Judaism. Indeed, Rabbi David Rosen says he knows of nothing else in history that has brought about such a profound change.

And that brings us back to our original question. What if Jules Isaac had not visited Pope John XXIII? Would we still be promoting a replacement theology? What if Jules Isaac had not been for a walk when his wife and two children were taken by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz? Would the Church have reflected on its teaching of contempt and still be antisemitic? Who knows. But we can be sure that Jules Isaac’s escape from the Nazis and his visit to the Pope were of such significance that they have changed the history of Catholic – Jewish relations, hopefully forever.

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Sep 16 2022

Can inter-religious encounters bring peace?

Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue

3 September 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany: Participants in the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches were able to take part in a variety of Encounters on the weekend, including a visit to the Gardens of Religion project in Karlsruhe, Germany, a project promoting interreligious cooperation and learning. The 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany 31 August to 8 September. Photo: Simon Chambers/WCC

Workshop explores how interreligious dialogue brings trust and respect

Can inter-religious encounters and dialogue help address challenges and conflicts? Can representatives of different religions act together for peace?

These crucial questions were raised in a workshop, “Participation and peace through interreligious cooperation,” held in the context of the World Council of Churches 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.

Workshop participants found that nearly every religion speaks about peace—yet many conflicts have occurred or escalated when one group tries to establish its religion as a superior one.

The past decade witnessed an increase in religious tensions and sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims in India; Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle East; and Muslims and Christians in South Sudan and other countries in Africa. In some European countries, violence involving people from minority Muslim groups is behind social tensions and conflicts.

“This workshop is not intended to develop a conceptual analysis on these issues, but to share good practices resulting from two specific experiences: the House of Religion and Intercultural Dialogue in Puttalam, Sri Lanka; and the House of religion – Dialogue of Cultures in Berne, Switzerland,” explained Heinz Bischel, head of department with the Reformed Church Berne-Jura-Solothurn.

Coming together

The idea of the house in Berne came out when migrations brought many different religions into Switzerland, a traditional Christian country.

“We realized these communities, which did not enjoy support from the state, had to come together in houses, garages, and other inadequate places. Why not have a house with a temple where they can practice their religions and engage in interreligious dialogue too?” said Karin Mykytjuk, director of the house.

The House of religion – Dialogue of Cultures in Berne opened officially in 2014, uniting eight different religions. Since then, it has become a place of encounter and recognition. It has given high visibility to religious minorities and offered a platform for ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, thereby fostering societal cohesion and peace.

A safe space

The idea was cherished by Sri Lankan representatives of different religions living in Switzerland.

The 25-year-long civil war which caused between 80,000–100,000 deaths, according to United Nations estimates, called for an interreligious dialogue that can transform cultural violence into cultural peace, said Sasikumar Tharmalingam, a Hindu priest.

“When the idea of creating a space for interfaith dialogue did not receive a favourable reception from religious leaders in Colombia, the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian representatives decided to launch the program in Puttalam,” said Fernando Emmanuel, a Roman Catholic priest and one of the leaders of the initiative.

In Puttalam, a 45,000-inhabitant city on the west coast of Sri Lanka, a piece of land was purchased in 2017 and the laying of the foundation stone was celebrated half a year later.

Since its establishment, the House of Religion and Intercultural Dialogue in Puttalam has provided a safe space for representatives of different cultures and religions in Sri Lanka to come together for peacemaking dialogue.

“The encounters have helped forge trust and respect for each other and allowed Tamil and Singhalese young people to be educated on human rights matters,” said Emmanuel.

There was consensus that any process of interfaith dialogue should involve at least three elements: getting to know each other is a fundamental premise to begin grappling with conflicts; healing of wounds in a public and safe space so reconciliation is feasible; and educating the new generations so that prejudices, negative perceptions and stereotypes are eradicated.

From the World Council of Churches

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May 24 2022

Helpful Conversations

Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue

by Sr Isabel Smyth, SND

Ever since the Second Vatican Council Catholic Bishops have met regularly to discuss issues of common concern. These meetings are called Synods and next year there is to be one on the very notion of synodality, on how to make the Church more inclusive and responsive to the needs of the present world. It’s basically a listening exercise, focussing on three questions: what do you value, what causes you pain and difficulty and how might the Church respond to present needs and concerns? It’s part of Pope Francis’ genius that he doesn’t want to limit these discussions to practising Catholics but has encouraged parishes to listen to those outside the Church, have left it or feel isolated and alienated from it. I was privileged enough to be part of two conversations with interfaith friends and consider these questions together.

It was heartening to hear that there was much they valued about the Church, not least Pope Francis himself whom they saw as an inspiration and someone who showed a real love for the whole of humanity. They appreciated his witness to the importance of good interfaith relations which has built bridges between communities and allowed them to move forward in friendship. The signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together by the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University in 2019 was seen as significant. The annual letters of greetings from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue which are accompanied here in Scotland by a letter from the Scottish Bishops had helped strengthen and deepen good relations. These Scottish letters showed respect for and knowledge of the other faith as well as relating the festival to catholic belief and practice. The work of the Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue, such as our annual reception for faith communities, was mentioned as was the involvement of the Bishops’ Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue who for over thirty years has supported the development of interfaith at local and national level. If there had not been this involvement and participation, it was suggested, interfaith relations would not have developed in Scotland.

When it came to hearing about concerns and issues it was obvious that we were all facing similar problems. One of these was the decline in numbers attending places of worship and the number of young people who no longer found religion relevant, though there was also the phenomenon of some young people becoming more traditional and right wing – something that could be a good topic for dialogue. There was a recognition that all our faiths are facing the same moral issues and in one of the conversations homosexuality was mentioned. Our religions should not be judgemental about people’s life stances, it was suggested, and it is because of this many are walking away from religion. So too interfaith marriages are still not accepted. In the past Jewish parents considered children who married outside the faith as dead and catholic parents often refused to go to the weddings of their children who married outside the Church. The control clergy have over certain elements of religion – eg. admitting people to the sacraments, refusing blessings or whatever is a common concern as is the role of women though, interestingly, women tend to predominate in interfaith relations and in this case the concern is how to get men involved.

These attitudes needed to change as does ignorance of the faith of others. Older views of one another’s faith and the legacy of the past are a barrier to understanding and have led to it being taboo for some Jews to visit a church or even mention Jesus or a suspicion of visiting places of worship. and engaging in dialogue for fear of conversion. While interfaith friendships are expanding and have grown over the years there is still a lot of mistrust of the other and a fear of being converted or encouraged to do so. What is needed is more dialogue and friendship, particularly at a local and neighbourhood level. A Christmas card from the local church would be appreciated as would carol singing at Christmas and perhaps a card to recognize the festivals of the faiths in the neighbourhood and a visit to a local place of worship. Even when a church is situated, for example, in an area with a large Jewish population, no mention is ever made of that in sermons or the life of the Church.

Many found it difficult to get local parish priests involved in interfaith events or respond to invitations. Clergy in all faiths need to be encouraged and told about the importance of interfaith relations and dialogue as these are important and necessary if communities are to be healthy. At present it tends to be the same faces at interfaith meetings, and this is a sign of weakness. How are we to encourage others – by having young people shadow experienced dialoguers, by good interreligious education? A grounding in world faiths should be given in faith education and clergy training. Too often the leaders and clergy in our faiths are inclined to be inward looking with no comments or statement on issues facing society and the community. This too should change.

There was a real sense of unity in the conversations and many of the concerns, as is obvious from this account, were shared by the different faiths. It was a valuable experience for all of us. We recognized one another, not just as friends but as citizens of the world and of Scotland. It was felt therefore that it is important that we are seen to be acting together for the common good, that we witness to friendships that extend beyond the boundaries of race and religion and hopefully contribute to peaceful co-existence among nations.

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May 13 2022

Dialogue on Mary the Mother of Jesus in the Catholic and Muslim traditions

Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Religious Practice, Scotland

by Sr Isabel Smyth SND

I’ve taken part in some interesting interfaith dialogues this last weekend. The first dialogue which didn’t quite turn out to be a dialogue was focussed on Mary the mother of Jesus from both a Catholic and a Shia Muslim perspective. Why it wasn’t quite a dialogue was that the input was intense and full so that there wasn’t much time for dialogue or questions. The input however was a basis, I hope, for future dialogues when it might be possible to bring the four women who participated together simply to respond to one another and reflect on the questions posed by their talks. The meeting was on zoom which had the great advantage of including women from Argentina, Michigan, Catalonia as well as Scotland and allowed attendees to put questions into chat. But zoom also has disadvantages in that it’s more difficult to regulate the time and allow for more personal responses.

The format of the event was that two speakers from each religion would talk about what we learn of Mary from their tradition and what Mary has meant to them as a woman of faith. Sr Teresa Forcades, described by the BBC as Europe’s most radical nun, gave the more academic contribution. She is very busy, and it has been said that she always seems to be in two places at once. This was borne out by the fact that she spoke to us from a hotel lounge where she was in the middle of a conference that she was organising. It was enlightening. For Teresa Mary is a model of Christian discipleship for both men and women. A surprise to me was the knowledge that in the New Testament Mary speaks more than any other disciple. In fact, suggests Teresa she is the most active and talkative of the disciples, not a traditional view of the Virgin Mary. The first word that Mary speaks in the Gospel of Luke is “how will this be?” in response to the announcement that she has found favour with God and will bear a child. For Sr Teresa this is not a sign of disbelief as happened with Zachariah when he heard that his wife was pregnant but rather showed her as a dialogue partner with God. Throughout the gospels Mary’s words confirm her as a confident woman who takes responsibility for her faith, is a channel of grace, has taken a radical option for life, shouts out with joy, complains and suffers.

Sr Teresa’s contribution was well supported and illustrated by Mary Cullen, well known in Catholic circles in Scotland, in her reflection on the place of Mary in her own life of faith using a picture, a poem, a prayer and a book. Fra Angelica’s painting of the Annunciation was the picture which, for Mary, showed an idealised, submissive and silent Mary, an image that she had grown up with. Experience, however, has taught her that this was the unrealistic, fanciful and even romanticised vision of patriarchy. Throughout her life and through her friendship with other women of faith she came to know Mary as a woman of strength, illustrated well in the poem of Gerard Manley Hopkins “The Blessed Virgin Mary Compared to the Air We Breathe” and the work of Anne Johnson in her book “Myriam of Nazareth, Women of Strength and Wisdom” as well as the work of theologian Elizabeth Johnson who in her book “Truly Our Sister” ‘… invites Mary to come down from the pedestal where she has been honoured for centuries and rejoin us in the community of grace and struggle in history’.

The two Muslim women, Sameia Younes and Israa Safieddine took a different approach, basing their contributions on the text of the Qur’an where Myriam is mentioned 34 times and the only one to be addressed by her personal name, even having a chapter devoted to her and her life. According to the Prophet Mohammed Mary is one of the best women of the world, standing alongside Asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh who rescued Moses from death in the Nile; Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad who supported him in his call to be a prophet, and Fatimah, the daughter of Khadijah and the Prophet who was greatly loved by him and seen as an example of an outstanding woman. The details of the life of Mary, particularly the virginal conception and birth of Jesus are very different from that found in the Gospels. Mary, as a young child, lives a life of seclusion and dedication to God, looked after by her uncle Zechariah, when she is visited by an angel who tells her of God’s choice that she should be the mother of the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus is born in the desert where Mary is miraculously sustained by a date tree and spring of water. Afraid of what will be said about her having given birth to a son, “carrying him she brought him to her people. They said, ‘O Mary, you have certainly come up with an odd thing! ….Thereat she pointed to him. They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is yet a baby in the cradle?” But Jesus does speak to confirm that he is of God.

It’s easy in a dialogue such as this one to focus on the differences in the accounts but despite these there was a lot in common. In both traditions it was obvious that Mary is seen as an example of a faithful and discerning servant of God for both men and women. She is not mild and meek but strong and courageous and for us engaged in interfaith work she is above all a partner in dialogue.

Audio will open in a new window – click the ‘play’ arrow at the top of the window to begin playing…

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Mar 2 2022

Saving St Mungo’s Museum

Bahai, Buddhism, Christianity, Festivals, Hinduism, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Judaism, Latest Updates, Scotland, Sikhism

by Sr Isabel Smyth SND

On 17^th February Glasgow City Council announced its budget for the forthcoming year and plans for post-covid recovery. Included in that budget is the statement “ As well as confirming the funding to keep all local libraries open, it will also allocate more than £1 million to reopen community centres and public halls, and £650k to reopen the much-loved St Mungo’s Museum and Provand’s Lordship” This feels like a victory for all those who campaigned tirelessly for the council to keep local libraries, museums and community centres open. Was this part of the budget the result of that campaigning, did Glasgow City Council listen to the voices of its citizens and realise how committed people were to their cultural and community centres, recognising the value they have in the ethos and development of a city.

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I was involved in the campaign to save St Mungo’s Museum or Religious Life and Art so that it would keep its interfaith and multifaith focus. Glasgow Life had indicated that its plan was to enter into an agreement with Historic Environment Scotland who own Glasgow Cathedral to revamp the Cathedral precinct to attract more visitors to the historic centre of Glasgow. This revamp would include St Mungo’s Museum and could mean a change in its focus to link more clearly with the history of the Cathedral. This has not yet been resolved but it is surely in keeping with the Christian origins of Glasgow to show its growth as the multifaith city, committed to social and interfaith harmony, that it has become.

The idea of a Museum of Religious Life and Art was the brainchild of Mark O’Neill, at that time Senior Curator of History with Gl. Museums. From the outset it was developed with a socially driven purpose, expressed in the mission statement:

to explore the importance of religion in people’s everyday lives across the world and across time, aiming to promote mutual understanding and respect between people of different faiths and none.

Mark and his team were convinced that if the museum was to live up to this vision stakeholders would have to be consulted and included in the museum’s development – even in the decision to call it The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. The stakeholders were the various faith communities in Glasgow as well as the Glasgow Sharing of Faiths, the first and, at that time, only interfaith group in Scotland. All these groups were approached and involved – donating artefacts and giving suggestions about the layout. Once opened the museum became a centre for interfaith celebrations and dialogues and because of the involvement of faith communities from its inception the Museum felt very much like a home from home. It did indeed become a much loved venue and the thought of it closing was like a bereavement and loss of what was considered a safe and neutral space to conduct what were sometimes difficult dialogues.

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The Museum opened on 4^th April 1993, one of only two Museums of Religion in Europe. Now there are more and many of those setting up similar museums came to Glasgow to learn from the St. Mungo experience. For these interfaith friends the thought of St Mungo’s closing or even changing its focus seemed incredible and many of them added their voices of protest to those of Glaswegians and the thousands of people who signed the petition instigated by Interfaith Glasgow.

This is not the first time that there have been plans to close St Mungo’s Museum, nor the first time it has been saved. It’s as though Glasgow Council needs to be reminded from time to time of its significance and the important contribution it makes to good community relations. Hopefully that no matter what future developments there might be stakeholders from Glasgow’s diverse religious communities, interfaith organisations, and anti-sectarian organisations will be consulted.

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Feb 9 2022

On the 2nd Anniversary

Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam

A Guest Blog by Devin Watkins, Vatican News Agency

Pope Francis: ‘Embrace human fraternity to stop endless destruction’

Pope Francis released a video message to mark the 2nd International Day of Human Fraternity, and urges all people to trod the difficult path of fraternity in order to overcome the prejudices and conflicts that divide humanity.

The International Day of Human Fraternity was set up by the UN General Assembly to commemorate the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019.

Pope Francis sent a video message on Friday as the world marked the second Day dedicated to this historic event. Fraternity, said the Pope, can act as a “bulwark against hatred, violence, and injustice”.

He thanked the many people and organizations—especially Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity—for the many initiatives which seek to implement the Document’s values.

“Fraternity is one of the fundamental and universal values that ought to undergird relationships between peoples, so that the suffering or disadvantaged do not feel excluded and forgotten, but accepted and supported as part of the one human family. We are brothers and sisters!”

Worshiping God, loving neighbour

Pope Francis said all people, regardless of religion or creed, are called to promote a “culture of peace” that welcomes all, while encouraging development and solidarity.

Throughout his message, the Pope repeated the affirmation that “we all live under the same heaven” and that we are all God’s children, no matter the colour of our skin or social class.

He said every person has a role to play in making the world a better place, by helping others raise “their eyes and prayers to heaven.”

“Let us raise our eyes to heaven, because whoever worships God with a sincere heart also loves his or her neighbour. Fraternity makes us open to the Father of all and enables us to see others as our brothers or sisters, to share life, to support one another and to love and come to know others.”

‘Unity in diversity’

As the world faces the Covid-19 pandemic, he said, we must remember that we are not saved alone. Rather, we must extend our hands “to celebrate our unity in diversity—unity, not uniformity,” said the Pope.

“The time of fraternity has arrived,” he added, so we should strive to “live in solidarity with one another.”

He also lamented the many little wars—a “third world war being fought piecemeal”—that destroy lives, force children to endure hunger, and suppress educational opportunities.

“Now is not a time for indifference: either we are brothers and sisters, or everything falls apart.”

We must not be indifferent to each other’s sufferings, said the Pope. The common heritage of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in God’s promise to Abraham joins us and helps us live “a fraternity as vast and bright as the stars of heaven.”

‘Anchor of salvation for humanity’

Pope Francis again greeted his “dear brother”, the Grand Imam, and acknowledged that the path of fraternity is “long and challenging” yet it is “the anchor of salvation for humanity.”

“Let us counter the many threatening signs, times of darkness and mindsets of conflict with the sign of fraternity that, in accepting others and respecting their identity, invites them to a shared journey,” he said.

Every person should be respected in their own identity and personality, added the Pope.

And he concluded by thanking everyone who believes that the world can live in harmony, since we are all “creatures of God: brothers and sisters.”

“I encourage everyone to be committed to the cause of peace and to respond concretely to the problems and needs of the least, the poor and the defenseless,” said Pope Francis. “Our resolve is to walk side by side, ‘brothers and sisters all’, in order to be effective artisans of peace and justice, in the harmony of differences and with respect for the identity of each.”

On the 2nd Anniversary Read More »

Dec 17 2021

Jesus the Jew

Christianity, Festivals, Judaism, Scripture

By Sr Isabel Smyth

This is the season of Advent, the season when Christians prepare for Christmas and reflect on the significance of Jesus for themselves and the world. During these four weeks Christians will be singing advent carols such as ‘O come, O come Emmanuel’ with lyrics that talk of “captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here. It calls on Jesus to “free thine own from Satan’s tyranny, from the depths of hell thy people save”. What would it be like to sing these words in the presence of Jews, how would they feel to hear themselves described as captive to Satan’s tyranny? Unfortunately, these words reflect Christianity’s attitude to Judaism over the centuries – Jews were seen as bound by a legalism that Christianity had been freed from, they were in the thrall of the devil because they had not accepted Jesus as their saviour, and this was because they were spiritually blind. Tragically this negative attitude led to violent and horrific anti-Semitism over the centuries. Jews were subject to pogroms, expulsion and violence, resulting in the murder of 6 million Jews in the Nazi death camps.

Thank goodness this attitude has changed and in the Catholic church there is a much more positive attitude towards the Jews and Judaism. One of the reasons for this change of heart has been the recognition that Jesus, his mother, his disciples were all Jews and that we Christians have a familial relationship with Judaism.

It’s sometimes difficult for Christians to truly take this on board but if we are to truly know Jesus, we must know something of his context. Jesus lived in Galilee, in what is now northern Israel. It was not a backwater. It was cosmopolitan, situated on the silk road route and people living there would have encountered other cultures and beliefs so that it is possible that Jesus spoke Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. The country was under Roman rule and the Jewish people longed for liberation. They looked forward to someone, a messiah, who would bring this about. Jesus is likely to have engaged in discussions and debates with other Jews, including Pharisees, as to how and when this might happen as he would have debated how best to live a good Jewish life. And he did all this as a faithful Jew. Jesus was born, lived and died a Jew. He never rejected or denied his religion though Christians have so underlined the importance of Jesus’ divinity and uniqueness that they have misunderstood the gospels and interpreted them as Jesus, and even God rejecting Judaism.

This is not accurate. Jesus loved his faith and lived it faithfully. He loved the Torah, which is the spiritual guidance at the heart of Judaism. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus tells his disciples that he had come, not to abolish the law, but to fulfil it. At the time there was a lot of debate among the various groups and teachers about what it meant to be a good Jew and how to keep the Law in an occupied land. Questions, such as was it lawful for a Jew to pay taxes, were not a challenge to his authority or an attempt to undermine him but the kind of dilemma facing Jews at that time.

Jesus kept the law, he ate kosher food, he was circumcised like all Jewish boys, he went to the Temple in Jerusalem, he attended the synagogue, he read the Jewish scriptures and would have prayed and even sung the psalms. He would have prayed three times a day wearing phylacteries, he would have worn fringes on his outer cloak.

He kept the Sabbath. There is an incident in the gospels when Jesus’ disciples plucked corn on the Sabbath because they were hungry and when Jesus was challenged about this he said, “the Sabbath is made for man not man for the Sabbath”. Some biblical commentaries suggest that this is a sign that in Jesus the age of keeping the law had been replaced by the age of redemption. But Jesus was not encouraging a breaking of the law because we now know that such an approach was not unknown in the Jewish tradition and that the law was to enhance life. What Jesus was doing was offering one interpretation of the law.

We know that Jesus had a deeply personal relationship with his father, calling God Abba. This is often, maybe even always, interpreted as Jesus having a more intimate and personal relationship with God than the Jews of the time who would always address God in more formal terms. This is not so – there are many examples of Jews talking to God as Abba and once again Christians have tried to make Jesus more unique than he was.

What Jesus is doing in the gospels is teaching his disciples how to be good Jews, how to live by the spirit of the law and respond from the heart. It was one way of being Jewish among others. Often conflicts in the gospels are not reflecting the time of Jesus but the times when the gospels were written and reflect tensions between the synagogue and the growing Christian community, not between Jesus and his contemporaries, including the pharisees.

Christians are followers of Jesus and live according to his understanding of faith and religion but how tragic if in doing this we interpret the scriptures in anti-Jewish ways and fail to respect the religion that Jesus loved and honour a people that Pope John Paul II described as our elder brothers and sisters in faith.

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Sep 24 2021

Common Ground in Dialogue

Christianity, Interfaith Dialogue, Judaism, Scripture

A Blog Post by Sr Isabel Smyth, Secretary of the Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue

Last week I was introduced to the work of Dr Peter Admirand who is the Director of the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue at Dublin City University. Dr Admirand was the keynote speaker at a colloquium on ‘Interreligious Dialogue in the Time of Pope Francis’, organised by the Scottish Bishops’ Committee for interreligious Dialogue.

While acknowledging the change and development in the Catholic church’s attitude to interreligious dialogue and the strong bond of friendship between the Pope and Rabbi Skorka, Dr Admirand widened our understanding of dialogue to include not just believers but also those who, as atheists, do not believe in God.

Dr Admirand’s most recent book is an account of such a dialogue, his own with Dr Andrew Fiala, the Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Ethics Centre at California State University, someone who has an interest in religion but is a declared atheist. The dialogue contained in their book Seeking Common Ground: An Atheist-Theist Dialogue is refreshing in that, like so many of these kinds of dialogues, it is not polemical with one side or the other trying to prove or disprove the existence of God. Rather it focuses on the common ground of a set of virtues which allows for an honest conversation and a common search for understanding without suspicion and resentment.

Having learned something of the faith journey of each of the writers, the rest of the chapters focus on a virtue, suggested by one of the writers and then responded to by the other. There are seven virtues in all – harmony, courage, humility, curiosity, honesty, compassion and honour. While the writers explore each virtue from their own perspective there is a learning for all of us in considering their role in interfaith relations. Some, it would seem to me, refer to the attitudes necessary for dialogue – a desire for harmony so that we are willing to set aside, at least for the time of dialogue, judgements and prejudices; a humility in listening to the truth as another sees it while recognising and acknowledging the terrible consequences of the failings of religions and ideologies; a compassion that recognises our shared humanity in its seeking for truth, even if we come up with different answers; an honour that respects and values the integrity of the other and an honesty that allows us to see how others might interpret and understand our words and actions. Recently Pope Francis, a great advocate of dialogue, found himself challenged when he suggested that the Torah does not offer fulfilment but is in fact a journey that leads to an encounter with Christ, seemingly undoing advances in Catholic – Jewish relations from the days when Christianity was thought to supersede Judaism and render it irrelevant. Now the Vatican is having to clarify that the Pope was speaking within the context of Christian scripture and stating “the abiding Christian conviction is that Jesus Christ is the new way of salvation. However, this does not mean that the Torah is diminished or no longer recognized as the ‘way of salvation for Jews.”

When such a thing happens to a Pope it is newsworthy, but such misunderstandings can happen in dialogue to all of us though if the dialogue is based on friendship, as is the case with the Pope’s relationship with the Jewish community, the upset can be talked about openly and be a moment of learning for everyone. But it is fear of such incidents that can keep some people from engaging in dialogue. Courage is then needed to break out of our sense of self-sufficiency and comfort and enter the world of another. For those of us who have done it, the journey is transformative and enriching but taking the first step can be difficult. Perhaps it is at that point that curiosity is something to be valued as a motivation for setting out on what is truly an adventure.

At our colloquium Dr Admirand highlighted curiosity as the value he hesitated over and some attending the event agreed with him. He noted that the Catholic tradition, based as it is on the certainty of Revelation, was suspicious of curiosity believing that it could undermine religious belief and, in their book, Dr Fiala states his belief that progression in science, psychology and other disciplines has done just that, especially since the Enlightenment. It certainly has taken many people beyond what Fiala calls naïve religion and that surely must be a good thing. There is of course a dangerous curiosity and today we are aware of the dangers of the internet, experimentation with drugs and other substances for example that can lead young people to play with fire – metaphorically if not literally. Pope Francis has warned against idle curiosity that is empty and superficial, but he has also said “the secret to joy: never suppress positive curiosity; get involved, because life is meant to be lived”.

Within the context of interreligious dialogue curiosity is surely a value which, if strong enough, gives us the courage to enter into the world of others and come back to our own changed and enlightened not just about the other but also about ourselves, our beliefs and the world we inhabit.

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