Confirmands go on Interreligious Excursion Programme

For the first time this year, in collaboration with the PMEIA (Parish Ministry of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs), the Confirmation class at the Assumption Church included an interfaith missionary excursion in their programme.

May 31, 2019

By Hilary Narcis
For the first time this year, in collaboration with the PMEIA (Parish Ministry of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs), the Confirmation class at the Assumption Church included an interfaith missionary excursion in their programme.

Interreligious dialogue is seen as a mission in the Catholic Church. The post-conciliar Vatican II document Nostra Aetate sought to initiate a new understanding and a new direction in the area of promoting dialogue and reconciliation with the followers of the other religions. Since that time the popes, after the council, use this practice as a beacon to build bridges for harmony. We have read ample accounts to papal interreligious encounters with the most recent visits by Pope Francis.

In this new inclusion into the Confirmation programme, students were initiated into the understanding of interreligious dialogue in the Catholic Church and its important role, especially in the Asian context where Christianity is the minority. The Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC), in realising this huge disparity, see dialogue as a “new way of being church” and ranks it as one of the highest priorities in the Asian Church. Asia is the seed bed for almost all the world’s major religions, with Islam having the majority. The FABC also noted that most of our Catholics are not engaged in interreligious dialogue and some vehemently oppose it. The Church seeks to change this.

After a classroom session on dialogue, the confirmation candidates went on an excursion to three houses of worship in the vicinity – the Sri Sithi Vinayagar Hindu temple, the Yuan Lin Xiao Zhot Buddhist temple and the Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Aziz. In a briefing prior to the visit, students were told to take this opportunity to get to know more about these faiths and to ask questions.

The excursion was fruitful. The leaders of these places of worship took time to explain their faith and the features of their temple or mosque. Questions were put forth and answered appropriately. For most of the students, it was their first time entering a temple or mosque.

The day was concluded with a review session conducted by the catechists. The PMEIA coordinator informed the students that there was opportunity to learn more at an upcoming Inter-faith Harmony Exhibition to be held in June 2019. In collaboration with the Parish Communication and Media team, PMEIA has invited representatives from the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Sikh and Baha’I communities to present their faith. It is hoped that regular encounters can lead to dialogue and understanding.

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