On Thursday 19th of August 2010, Various Muslims & Christians from inner City Sydney suburbs of Marrickville, Newtown and Redfern amongst others joined together at St Brigid's Catholic Parish for a memorable iftar dinner. Jointly organised by Affinity Intercultural Foundation and St Brigid's Catholic Parish Marrickville, distinguished guests consisted of Imam Mehmet Mutlu of Erskenville Mosque, Imam Murat Cakir of Redfern Mosque, Bishop Terry Brady - Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney and co-host Mr Mehmet Saral, President of the Affinity Intercultural Foundation. This event was organised as per previous years as a part of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, with the aim to build harmony in the greater community.
The evening followed a formal welcome by MC, Mr John Howard from St Brigid's Ecumenical & Interfaith Committee and the official breaking of the fast. Imam Mehmet Mutlu then recited a beautiful reading from the holy Quran, which was soon followed by a lovely Gospel reading by Bishop Terry Brady.
The audience was moved as the sacred call for prayer was then conducted by Imam Murat Cakir. Guests departed for a brief prayer and returned to begin dinner with a full buffet creatively organised by our caterer Tan Thai.
Various community members including students and teachers from Casmere College participated in an open discussion about 'What caused a lack of understanding in Mulitifaith Communities like Australia'. Interesting opinions were shared including, media, stereotyping, fear of the unknown, lack of knowledge and a lack of focusing on the similarities of various religions as opposed to the differences through schooling.
Remedies to building harmony were discussed, which then lead into the discussion of projects Affinity and the Parish have successfully engaged in to achieve this milestone. The iftar dinner was a part of this.
It was indeed an inspirational evening for two faiths uniting to share one religions practices and more importantly collectively addressing the greater issues concerning the communities of today.
Fr John Pearce presented copies of the churches 2010 mission statement which promoted building harmony and Affinity President Mr Mehmet Saral presented the church with a cultural gift as a token of acknowledgement for this greater initiative.
