An after circle talk on interfaith dialogue by the President of Norwood Catenians (Catenians are Catholic professional men who meet monthly to support faith, friendship, family and fun)
To be frank I am not sure how to present a wealth of experience in 15 minutes! I could say a lot about the many interfaith gatherings and visits I have made and Westminster cathedral interfaith group and “Conversations for the soul” at mosques and now at Brixton Buddhist centre. I have combined part of a speech I gave to 200 Muslims at the Ramadan tent with an article I wrote about my position.
I was born in England but lived in Johannesburg until the age of 25. I was educated at St John’s College, an Anglican school but we learnt nothing about other faiths
.When I worked in Wandsworth libraries, I worked with a good friend and a fine man Zia. He tried hard to convert me to Islam but we did have some wonderful conversations. He did not want to know what I thought about the faith, he wanted to know what Rome taught. As a result I realised I knew nothing about Islam and so the Westminster cathedral interfaith group was founded 7 years ago.
By studying Islam with the wonderful Dr Chris Hewer I was able to deal more confidently with my Muslim staff. For instance one of the women insisted on having tea break at a certain time so that she could pray. I discovered that there was in fact quite a large timeslot for prayer and so we were able to accommodate her needs to the needs of the service. We also avoided situations where we walked in to the staffroom to find staff praying on the floor.
One Christmas I decided that we would go to a Muslim restaurant for our outing. To my surprise we had no sooner ordered than 3 of the women announced that that had to go to the mosque to pray. This was strange as women are often not expected to go to the mosque. Zia was clearly embarrassed by this and in fact we found that people were praying in the restaurant itself! I sat there thinking “This is really odd. I have given up going to Saturday evening Mass to come here and accommodate my staff and now this happens.!” Any way they returned and we had an enjoyable evening but I can’t help thinking that they were making a point. When one of them left she wrote a lovely note saying how much I had done to understand her position.
Once I had retired from the library I was able to go to Heythrop college to study part-time for a M.A. in Christianity and Interreligious relations. Here we studied the relationship between Christianity and other faiths in particular Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. My class were wonderful including brilliant theology graduates, teachers, a retired diplomat, an Anglican curate, Southwark Anglican diocese interfaith contact and 2 converts from Islam to Christianity. Professor Michael Barnes was the reason I went to Heythrop and he supervised my dissertation on “Meister Eckhart and Buddhists; what is the attraction?” Damian Howard and Tony Carroll are both outstanding teachers. I have always found that my many interfaith meetings have led to many contacts and indeed friendships.
The secret of interfaith is personal relationships. If I get to know you, I can begin to have the courage to ask the questions I really want answered and I can learn to listen to the answers I am given with greater understanding.
But how has all this changed my perception? Firstly I recognise common humanity and common ground between us. This does not imply that we will always agree.
Secondly I have become much more aware of the spiritual riches which we can share. A good example is the practice of Christian meditation in silence as advocated by John Main. Here one can see the clear influence of Buddhist and Hindu practice but the meditation remains rooted in Christ.
When I go my weekly tai chi and qi gong class I am very aware of the simple use of breathing to still the body and mind. We are all such busy people nowadays and these times of quiet are so precious.
Thirdly, I want to share my own experience and learn from other’s experience. Why do we believe in God? A humanist might say that all religion is a human construction. But is this really the case?
Last year Cardinal Tauran came to London and there was a beautiful ceremony when all faiths spoke about peace. I had the privilege of welcoming many of the guests and I realised how many of them I knew. How important that first welcome is when we come to a gathering!
How does all this challenge my own Catholic faith? I am a sinner like everybody else and I often fail. But I can say that my faith has been much strengthened by these encounters and by visits to so many beautiful places of worship. I recall arriving at the Buddhist Amaravati monastery in Hertfordshire and actually not wanting to leave to continue the pilgrimage. Here was a place of beauty and serenity.
For me it is the liturgy which strengthens my faith. The Eucharist is central to this and I love the beauty of great churches and cathedrals and the music not least the hymns of faith, many of which I know by heart. Morning and night prayer also play a major part in my life.
It is so important to acknowledge the truth of what my Muslim brother or sister is saying to me. The Christian/Muslim forum organises encounters called “Conversations for the soul” and I have found these discussions about aspects of faith most stimulating. When I have attended prayers in mosques I have been much impressed by the warmth of the greeting between believers at the end of the prayers. How I wish we saw a similar warmth in many of our churches! We exchange the Peace in a formal way but do not know each other’s names!
Another aspect of interfaith is the wonderful food usually vegetarian and delicious!
In discussion with Muslims we agreed that it was worship and community which mattered most to us. One often encounters the comment “all faiths are the same – they are all based on the Golden Rule”. While this may be partly true, we do have our differences. Certainly those in government would like us all to sing from the same hymn sheet. But the metaphor of an orchestra is a better one. We all have our part to play in a great symphony of praise to God.
I have also encountered challenge to my position. Those who speak most to me are those who challenge me to speak from the heart. It is too easy to approach faith matters in an intellectual and almost distant way. My Buddhist and Muslim friends challenge me to speak from my heart rather than my head.
What are the prospects for interfaith in the UK? A great deal of work has been done especially since the tragedy of 9/11. The National Interfaith Week in November is firmly established and there are plenty of opportunities to interact with each other. For Christians, interfaith has in many ways overtaken ecumenism. I send on many emails to my network and I am aware that you could attend an interfaith event in London on most days of the year!
Pope Francis in Evangelium Gaudii 238 following “The Joy of the Gospel” gives us powerful encouragement to continue the dialogue. In 250 he writes “an attitude of openness in truth and love must characterize the dialogue with the followers of non-Christian religions… Interreligious dialogue is a necessary condition for peace in the world.” He quotes the Bishops of India “being open to them, sharing their joys and sorrows”. Do read the whole of this document –it is very easy to read and full of wonderful insights. Engaging with “the other” is a duty for Christians!
What I would like to see is a deepening of dialogue and a sharing of spiritual riches. From this might come common action especially in areas of justice and peace.
My challenge to you is “How well do you know your staff and neighbours? How much do you really know about Islam? Are you willing to ask those of other faiths the questions you want answered?”
There was a lively discussion after the talk. Among points raised were “Do we worship the same God?” I refer to Pope Benedict who says that we do.
“Do the Bishops and Cardinal support this dialogue?” The answer is a very definite Yes and I work closely with Katharina Smith-Muller the interreligious advisor to the Bishops’ conference and Jon Dal Din of Wesminster Interfaith.
“Why do we never see people of other faiths speaking to us at Mass?”
Canon law says that only a Catholic priest or deacon may give the homily but a priest could invite others to speak at the end of Mass. I myself have only ever heard 3 homilies which mentioned interfaith, notably our two Cardinals.
Barry Mizen of the Jimmy Mizen foundation made the valuable point that we need to come out of our little groups and acknowledge that we have a common humanity, for example that we are all Londoners. He spoke of the support that his family had received from local Muslims.
Perhaps the greatest lesson for me was the need to address our Catholic community about this issue which is so often neglected in our liturgies and the Catholic press.
John Woodhouse
MA Christianity and Interreligious relations 2013
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