Interfaith Journeys
  • Home
  • Interfaith Journeys
  • Stella Reekie

Habemus Papam

10/5/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
  Habemus Papam, we have a Pope and with this traditional announcement Pope Leo XIV was introduced to the world. For some reason I was struck by the phrase this time round. It wasn’t the Church has a Pope, or the Cardinals have elected a Pope, it was simply we, the catholic community, bound at this moment by sadness over the death of one Pope and hoping for someone who would carry on the work and inspiration of Pope Francis. It is always a moment of joy and anticipation. What will he be like? While it is undoubtedly a family moment it is also a global moment and many outside the Church have acclaimed and welcomed a man who as a member of a religious order is surely a man of prayer, American born with Peruvian citizenship, missionary experience in Africa and Latin America and administrative experience in Peru and in Rome. His choice of name also gives a clue to his commitment to Justice and Peace. 

Leo XIII was Pope at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th cy. and is known for bringing the Church into the modern world and facing up to the problems of the day.  In his famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum, Latin for 'of revolutionary change in the world’ he addressed the social and economic issues of the late 19th century.  He promoted workers' rights to fair wages, safe conditions, and trade unions while supporting property rights and free enterprise. He opposed both socialist and communist doctrines as well as laissez-faire capitalism. His encyclical laid the foundations for a body of teaching known as The Church’s Social Teaching, often called the Church’s Best Kept Secret which is based on seven principles: the dignity of the human person, solidarity, the common good, the option for the poor, peace, creation and the environment and the dignity of work and participation.  

For Catholics the name Leo XIV was a sign that he intended to stand firmly in this tradition and today in a meeting with the Cardinals who elected him he confirmed this, saying that he identified with his namesake Pope Leo XIII. He also identified an issue that he obviously thinks is important - “in our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour."  “He reiterated the path set in motion by the Second Vatican Council, a path renewed and reinterpreted under Pope Francis. He highlighted key themes from Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: the primacy of Christ, synodality, the sensus fidei (the supernatural "sense" of the faithful), popular piety, care for the poor, and courageous engagement with the world.” At the end of his discourse “he quoted Saint Paul VI, at the dawn of his own pontificate, praying that “a great flame of faith and love” may once again spread across the world, lighting the way for all people of good will”. 

What more could the world hope for and from the response to the death of Pope Francis and the announcement of a new Pope it is obvious that people of all faiths and none look to the Pope for inspiration and guidance. One letter from a Muslim friend of the Scottish Church wrote “This moment brings renewed hope and inspiration to the Catholic faithful and to all who share in the wider mission of building compassion, justice, and peace. As we receive the Holy Father’s vision for the Church and the world, I know it will be met with open hearts and thoughtful reflection here in Scotland.” And a Church of Scotland in a nearby neighbourhood rang its bells loud and clear when the announcement was made – something not previously known in a country that still suffers from sectarianism.  

Of course, there have already been critics, looking to his past and judging that 13 years ago he did not do enough about clerical abuse and even some Americans saying that while he may have been born in America he will not be committed to America First. There are also those writing his agenda, encouraging him to be committed to their particular cause such as the ordination of women, which I would of course agree with and because of my own ministry I would hope he would be committed to interfaith dialogue. Dialogue is a word he used when he came on to the balcony at St Peter’s to greet the community gathered there and the millions watching on their television screens.  I have no doubts that he will continue Pope Francis’ commitment to this, realising how powerful it would be if all faiths together could light a great flame of faith and love. It would certainly be stronger than any one faith doing it on their own.
​
The task of a Pope is a mammoth one. He has said it is a burden that is too great for him or for anyone to bear and it can only be done with the support of the body of Cardinals and all members of the Church. There are many internal issues and problems to be faced but I think no Pope can get on bandwagons. His role is principally to be a source of unity, trying to hold in tension those who think the Church is not moving quickly enough and should change and those who think that change is betraying past teaching and wanting to hold it back. In a sense the Pope holds the middle position – there are others whose role is to challenge it and show how it can move forward into a new era, there are those who will remind it not to throw the baby out with the bath water and the Pope who discerns the way forward, all the time proclaiming the good news that each of us is unique and valuable with great potential to bring about a society and a world in which justice, peace and love can flourish. 

0 Comments

Pope Francis, Pilgrim of Peace

26/4/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
 Like millions of people throughout the world I followed the funeral of Pope Francis on television this morning with a sad heart but grateful for his inspiration and vision of what the world could be if only we believed in human fraternity and solidarity. There was all the colour, pomp and ceremony of the Catholic Church but at its centre was a simple wooden coffin of a man who simply loved people, who accepted them as they were while not being afraid to call them to be even better. At the heart of his message was love, hope, justice, tenderness, joy and people of all walks of life and all religions responded positively, seeing him as a beacon of hope in a dark and troubled world.

I met him once. It was at a conference in Rome, organised by the International Council of Christians and Jews to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document on the Church’s Relationship with Non-Christian Religions, a title we would not use today, having learnt to describe other faiths in a more positive light. It was a full programme and included a papal audience. We were directed to leave empty the first row or so when we got to the audience room as those were or the organising committee who would be presented to the Pope. Just before the Pope arrived we were told that the Pope would meet everyone and so much to our delight 175 of us queued up to greet him and shake his hand.  He greeted each one as though he was pleased to see him or her and it felt like a real if brief encounter. I have heard from others that he was in the habit of doing this when other delegations had a papal audience. No doubt this kind of action made life more difficult for those organising his diary and timetable and got him the reputation of being a kind of maverick.

I have received letters of condolences from friends in all faiths, expressing their sorrow at his death and their appreciation of what he did for peace and interfaith dialogue. Some spoke movingly about this. The Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society wrote “Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis demonstrated a remarkable openness to dialogue with other faith traditions. His sincere outreach to the Muslim world, and his vision of fraternity among all peoples, have left a deep impression upon our communities. We in the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society and broadly, the Shi’i community remember especially his unwavering commitment to building bridges of understanding and his repeated calls for peace, mercy, and human dignity... May God grant him eternal rest, and may his example continue to illuminate the path of those who lead in faith.”

And Ahl al-Bayt Scotland “From the perspective of the Ahl al-Bayt tradition, we recognize and honour leadership that is rooted in service, humility, and moral clarity. His Holiness exemplified these virtues with sincerity and steadfast dedication. His enduring efforts to uplift the marginalized, to promote social justice, and to foster dialogue across cultures and faiths have left an indelible mark on the hearts of countless people around the globe….His life was a testament to the belief that true leadership is not exercised through power, but through presence—not through dominion, but through dialogue. He reached across divides with open hands and an open heart, embodying the very values we strive to uphold in our own tradition and in our shared pursuit of unity and understanding….May his memory be a guiding light, and may his example continue to inspire efforts toward reconciliation, compassion, and justice in our communities and beyond”.

Pope Francis’ commitment to interfaith relations rested on a firm commitment to dialogue as a way of life, respect for all, abiding friendships, a vision of human fraternity and harmony and a conviction that “it is an urgently needed and incomparable service to humanity, to the praise and glory of the Creator of all.” 

He made history when in 2014 he invited his friends from Argentina, Rabbi Skorka, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, and Muslim leader Omar Abboud, to accompany him as part of the official delegation to the Middle East which included Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. They were also present in the Vatican Garden when President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas, responding to the Pope’s invitation on that trip, came together to pray with the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew for peace in that land that many faiths call holy.

His visit to Abu Dabhi in 2019 was the first visit of a Pope to the Arabian Peninsula. He went there as a pilgrim of peace following in the footsteps of his namesake Francis of Assisi who had met the Sultan al-Malik al Kamil 800 years ago during the Fifth Crusade.  At a meeting of Muslim elders on 4th February 2019 Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, Ahmed el-Tayeb co-signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together which declared the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path to peace.  This has become an important document and in 2020 the United Nations designated the 4th of February as the International Day of Human Fraternity. Pope Francis had first met Ahmed el-Tayeb in the Vatican in 2016, an event which overcame the tension that had existed between Al-Azhar and the Vatican since Pope Benedict’s Regensburg lecture in 2006 and which began a friendship between the two men which gave birth to the Human Fraternity document and influenced the writing of his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.

Fratelli Tutti is a testament to Pope Francis’ desire for harmony. It begins and ends with a reference to Islam through the stories of Francis of Assisi and Charles de Foucauld. It promotes interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding and prays that God, the Father of our human family, may inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, dialogue, justice and peace. Pope Francis was a shining example of that wherever he went. May his memory and the memory of his dream for our world be a continued blessing and example to us all.


0 Comments

Pray for Jerusalem

17/4/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
 ​I cannot take part in the Holy Week Services which begin this evening without thinking about the Jewish community and how in the past the readings and prayers had a decidedly anti-Jewish tone which no doubt led to an antisemitic attitude amongst Christianity at large and Christians in particular. The story of the passion and death of Jesus as set out in John’s gospel will be read in churches on Good Friday. Often there are different voices for the various characters in the story with the congregation taking the part of the Jews whose lines are ‘Crucify him, crucify him’. Is it any wonder that the belief grew up that the Jews had crucified Jesus and were culpable of deicide. This was so strongly held that at times in the past it was not safe for Jews to show their face during these solemn and so-called holy days for fear of being attacked. This has now changed. Scripture scholars admit that while religious authorities were involved in bringing Jesus before Pontius Pilate and sought his death it was the political authority that sentenced him to death. And it certainly wasn’t the Jewish population of the time, many of whom were his followers. The Vatican II document Nostra Aetate which set out the Church’s relationship with other religions spoke out against any charge of deicide being brought against members of the Jewish community and recognised the Jewish roots of Christianity. But the scripture with this in it is still read on Good Friday and hopefully whoever is preaching will deal with this sensitively. For some Jews the very phrase ‘the Jews’ brings back memories of antisemitism and the kind of atrocities that resulted in the Holocaust.

It is so easy to blame a whole people for the faults and failings of their government and while we Christians may have changed out attitude to the Jews of Jesus’ time, Jewish people are often asked to account for the actions of the Israeli government, even though they are not Israeli. I have heard it myself and if I can feel uncomfortable at this supposition how much more must our Jewish brothers and sisters feel. The land of Israel is central to Judaism and many Jews are broken hearted at what is happening in the Middle East now. They have a great loyalty to the State of Israel as a place where Jews can live out their way of life in peace and security but the attack by Hamas on October 7th 2023 sent shock waves through the community as it seemed they were no longer safe in their own land. While the response of the Israeli government can be criticised I think it is difficult for Jews to be openly critical of it because they feel the rise in antisemitism, the overwhelming support in the media for Palestine and what seems a lack of sympathy for Jewish fears and need for security.

During this war which is horrific for the Palestinians I have tried not to take sides. That is not to sit on the fence but rather to try to be both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, recognising the legitimate history of the pain and suffering of both people, both of whom I think have been let down by their governments. How to hold both stories at the same time is difficult and while I no longer engage in conversation with people whose support for one side suggests a rejection of the other I do find myself expressing the pain of the Palestinians when I am with Jews and the pain of Israel when I am with those who support the Palestinians. Those of us who are engaged in interfaith relations, especially the Council of Christians and Jews have reflected often on the situation and concluded that the only response is that of being broken hearted. For me I have felt a great sadness and real pain when I think of how the Israeli government is responding, more out of fear for its own existence than any desire for peace. When I read the prophets or Jonathan Sacks and hear of the beauty of Judaism and what it has to offer the world I hate what is happening and even fear for Israel’s survival. How wonderful it would have been if it could have lived by the high ideals of Judaism and shown the world how to negotiate and work for a peaceful solution for two people having a claim to and sharing the same land. But why should I expect that of Israel when there are so many examples of so called Christian and Islamic nations not living up to the ideals of their religion?

There are of course many Jewish people and groups who have demonstrated and spoken out against the war. This week there has been a statement from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the largest communal organisation in the UK decrying Netanyahu and his concern for his own survival. I was heartened by this and found it reflective of my own views. Under the heading “As British Jews we can no longer stay silent on the war in Gaza” they express their love for Israel and deep concern for its future as well as their pain and shock at what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank. They see “hopes dwindling for a peaceful reconciliation and the return of the hostages. Israel's soul is being ripped out” they say “and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to.  Silence is seen as support for policies and actions that run contrary to our Jewish values…. We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life. We yearn for the "day after" this conflict when reconciliation can start”.  


To have such a respected body speak out so clearly is for me hopeful and I will carry their pain as well as their hopes and desires for peace with me as I enter into these solemn days of remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus.  

0 Comments

The Lost Son

4/4/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
 Amy- Jill Levine is Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University. She is a New Testament scholar and professes to love the NT and Jesus, yet she is Jewish. This gives her a unique insight into the stories and events in the gospels, so it was natural for me to consult her when I was asked last Sunday to give a reflection on the scripture readings for the day. The text was from Lk 15 and the story was that of the Prodigal Son.  We all know it well – the son who leaves home having asked for his share of his inheritance and only returns when he has squandered it and is in fact starving to be welcomed and embraced by his father.

In her reflections on the story Professor Levine points out that it is the third in a series of stories at the beginning of chapter 15 of Luke’s gospel – the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son which is her way of naming the parable.  She also points out the introductory verse which says, “One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, 2the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!” 3So Jesus told them this parable” Even when the reading focussed only on the third story of the lost son whoever drew up the cycle of Sunday readings included those verses, meaning to put the story of the lost son into a context which suggested a  group that supported Jesus and were ready to learn from him and another group which grumbled and complained about him. This Dr Levine suggests is Luke interpreting the parable and influencing how we might interpret it.  Unfortunately, there has been and perhaps still is a tendency in Christianity to identify the scribes and pharisees with the older brother and the Jewish people who have remained faithful to the Law but rejected Christ and identify the outcasts and tax collectors with younger brother and Christians who have now been welcomed into the embrace of the father.

This interpretation betrays a supercessionist approach that sees Christianity as having replaced the Jewish people and assumed their role as God's chosen people. Over the centuries this approach has led to an anti-Judaism and antisemitism that has had such terrible consequences for the Jewish people and the world at large.  Although supercessionism and any sense of Christians replacing Jews would now be considered wrong in the Catholic Church and many other churches we must beware of and be on the look out for suggestions of an antagonism that does not reflect Jesus position but that of the tension between the early Christian community and the synagogue.

 While many commentators reflect on the patient and unconditional love of the father in the story Professor Levine sees it as a story about family dynamics. It begins “There was a man who had 2 sons… For a Jewish audience this would immediately call to mind stories in the Torah of other 2 sons – Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob. In these stories it is the younger brother who unexpectedly receives the blessing of his father. So, she suggests that if Jesus audience were biblically literate and why would they not be they would know to identify with the younger son who in this case turns out not to be righteous or faithful but irresponsible, self-indulgent and possible an indulged and spoiled child.  Professor Levine imagines the situation when the younger son asks for his share of the inheritance:  what happens in the time before the son leaves, - is the father busy dividing his property, is he heartbroken, does he try to remonstrate with his son? Where is the mother in the story?  Did the older son try to mediate and change the mind of his brother – was he angry because according to Deuteronomy he should have got two thirds of his father’s estate?

The father lets his son go. Unlike the good shepherd and the woman with the lost coin the father does not search for his son though we get the impression that he was constantly on the lookout for him, no doubt pained by his younger child’s action. It was because of this patient waiting that he was able to spot him from afar and run to welcome him
And what about the older son? Do we not feel some kind of sympathy with him?  No-one ran out to invite him to the feast, he only discovered it by chance – perhaps on his way home. His anger and upset are not unprovoked,
Now Professor Levine tells us the father has a problem.  The father has his younger son back but now the elder son is lost – and perhaps always had been in a way that the father didn’t notice until now.
 The father now needs to return this lost elder son to the family if he is to make his family complete. Will the father be reconciled with his elder son? Will the brothers be reconciled?

Is this the challenge that Jesus poses in telling this story?  This story of the need for reconciliation would have been a challenge to Jesus’ listeners and is surely a challenge to us today. How do we respond? Can we be agents of reconciliation in our own homes but also in the world we inhabit, in our relations with people of other faiths, people who are different from us and so contribute to reconciliation in a world that so easily polarises and divides? 

0 Comments

Interreligious Dialogue and Peacebuilding

12/3/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue had its annual symposium last week. The main speaker on Friday evening was Martha Ines Romero who is the General Secretary of Pax Christi International, a Catholic peace movement, with 120 member organisations worldwide which promotes peace, respect of human rights, justice and reconciliation throughout the world. Set up at the end of the Second World War, Pax Christi believes that peace is possible and that the vicious cycles of violence and injustice can be broken. It’s work for peace and advocacy for non-violence action are admirable but not straightforward. Should a country defend itself? Are boycotts really non-violent or are they masking an attitude of non-violence? How do we avoid a black and white response to conflicts without knowing the history of the people as is often the case, especially in my experience with attitudes to Palestine. Is this dividing the world into them and us, good and bad really helping us develop the compassion necessary to be a peacemaker? Should we not in this day and age be trying to overcome the dualism that has set us apart from one another and cause conflict.

Some of these questions were taken up by Dr Maureen Sier, the Director of Interfaith Scotland who spoke about her experience of difficult dialogues in Scotland. This made us face the nitty gritty, not only of dialogue but also of peacebuilding.  Maureen suggested that conflict in Scotland can be caused by three things – geo-politics when loyalty to fellow believers in situations of conflict abroad can drive  faith communities apart in Scotland; the media that often portrays religion and religious conflicts inaccurately in a way that increases suspicion and amplifies differences; contentious issues that need to be handled delicately.

The most difficult of these dialogues was a recent one set up by Interfaith Scotland and Interfaith Glasgow on the situation in Israel and Palestine and how to stop it affecting good relations between faiths here in Scotland. It was called ‘Courageous Conversations: Nurturing Community Relations in the Light of the Middle East’. Christians, Muslims and Jews were involved and while the privacy of the conversations was honoured Maureen acknowledged difficulties and misunderstandings which luckily did not prevent the participants staying to the end of the 5 sessions. For some of the participants the space did not feel safe, but they knew it to be a brave and important space, and the only place where they were able to have understanding – seeking interfaith conversations on the war in the Middle East.

 I was not part of that dialogue but had been part of a similar one organised by the West of Scotland Council of Christians and Jews and Interfaith Glasgow on antisemitism as it related to Israel/Palestine. That too had its tense moments but the good relationships between the participants allowed for an honesty and growth in understanding and a recognition of the different perspectives we can have of the same situation. These conversations are not easy and need careful planning and facilitation using a variety of tools to foster active listening. The result of the antisemitism dialogue was the publication of a report ‘Creating Brave Spaces’ which describes the processes and facilitations tools used in the dialogue as well as reflections from the participants and the facilitators.

One of the first lessons learned in these difficult spaces is how language can mean different things in different contexts and lead to misunderstandings. Maureen spoke of how she was warned as a Bahai not to speak of unity (something close to the Bahai’ faith’s heart) when she went to Northern Ireland as there the word has a geo-political meaning. Similarly, words like terrorist, genocide are not helpful if people are to stay in dialogue with one another. This I think is something that people in general need to learn so that they are aware that throw away comments and unthinking evaluations of a situation can alienate their listeners which is in danger of spreading misunderstandings rather than peace. So too is asking inappropriate questions as happened on the occasion when a Jewish speaker, having spoken highly of Nostra Aetate and the Catholic Church’s changed relationship with Judaism was challenged about the State of Israel and its relationship with Gaza.  This is something that happens often to Jews who are not Israelis. To be a true peacebuilder demands a lot of self-reflection and careful research into the stories of those involved in wars and conflicts, not necessarily agreeing with them but at least understanding them.

The conversations among participants showed a recognition of this and a growing understanding of the importance of interreligious dialogue as a tool for peace. It is something that takes us beyond talking about peace to engaging in it. And to engage in it with integrity we need to seek an inner peace and compassion through our own religious practice.

The image that remains with me is a description of a moment by the Sea of Galilee which Maureen had experienced when she went as part of an interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In that moment she saw a Buddhist monk walking mindfully along the shore, a Christian washing his face in the water and a Hindu priest in the Sea, scooping up the water with joy and laughter declaring this is a sacred Sea just like the Ganges. What would it be to recognise the sacredness in one another’s religions – a sacredness that is everywhere?

0 Comments

Sowing Seeds of Peace

16/2/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
 One of the purposes of interfaith work is that of peace and harmony among religions which includes not letting wars abroad affect relations here at home. This is very true when it comes to the conflict in the Middle East and the war between the State of Israel and Hamas. I do not know of any other conflict that polarises discussion quite as much as this one. For those of us involved in interfaith relations it is heartbreaking. In my experience the Jewish Community here in Scotland are keen to keep on good relations with their Muslim neighbours and vice versa but any talk of the situation in Israel and Gaza shows loyalties that can so easily set one group against the other as they defend one position over another. Each group feels so much the suffering of their brothers and sisters in faith.

For Christians there is a special dilemma I think as we recognise the centuries of antisemitism which was the seed bed for the atrocities of the Holocaust and led to the need for a Jewish State where Jews could feel assured of safety, an assurance that has been weakened by the Hamas attacks of 7th October 2024. We are shocked by the situation in Palestine brought about by Israeli retaliation that we have seen daily on our television screens and the terrible suffering of our Christian and Muslim sisters and brothers. But we also have to be aware of the political colonial manoeuvrings in such things as the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 on how the Middle East should be divided and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 supporting the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine following the fall of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War. Because of our various histories we are all implicated in the tragedy of what is happening in Israel and Gaza. We carry our own stories as well as the suffering and injustice of it all somewhere in our inherited memory and this can affect how we react to the situation.

At present there is a ceasefire (not peace) in Gaza with a new plan for peace being put forward by Donald Trump. This is another incidence of a colonial mindset that decides for another country and nation what is best for it. This time there is a strong reaction against it and only time will tell if that has any effect. One such reaction has come from more than 350 rabbis and other Jewish public figures who on 13th February took out a full-page ad in the New York Times and used it to condemn President Trump's proposal under the headline 
             "Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say no to ethnic cleansing!"

One of the first groups to denounce the plan as absolutely unacceptable was a liberal advocacy group that champions a "pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy" agenda and there have been statements from the Conservative and Reform Jewish Assemblies. Many others have spoken out.  Rabbi David Rosen, for example, a Papal Knight and Special Interfaith Advisor at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, said: "It is important that the world knows as much as possible that the initiative of President Trump as it stands, and as it has been understood, is not acceptable."  Jean-Charles Putzolu who writes for Vatican News said, "Moving populations against their will is against the Geneva Convention.... more importantly, it is immoral. It is unethical to move people away from their place of domicile."  Speaking to The Guardian, Rabbi Yosef Berman of the New Synagogue Project in Washington, DC, said "Jewish teaching is clear: Trump is not God and cannot take away Palestinians' inherent dignity or steal their land for a real estate deal. Trump's desire to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza is morally abhorrent. Jewish leaders reject Trump's attempts to wring profit from displacement and suffering and must act to stop this heinous crime."

These are important Jewish voices in support of their Muslim sisters and brothers. Although not directly connected to the Middle East there was, for me, another piece of good news this week. It was the publication of an historic accord signed by senior Muslim and Jewish denominational leaders in the UK and presented to King Charles at Buckingham Palace. It is called Muslim – Jewish Reconciliation Accords, A Framework of Reconciliation, Understanding and Solidarity. It was published after a two-day retreat at Drumlanrig Castle in the South of Scotland – hence also called The Drumlanrig Accord which was the culmination of a year-long series of high-level meetings. For the first time in UK history, senior representatives from eleven major Muslim and Jewish denominations, two of whom had Scottish connections, gathered to shape a future founded on shared values, reconciliation, and social responsibility. The Preamble notes the spiritual heritage shared by both Muslims and Jews and acknowledges that “global tensions, particularly in the Middle East, often strain relationships between these communities, leading to misunderstandings and fractures at a local level. In times of crisis, these fractures can deepen, escalating in Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and societal polarisation”. It is because of this polarisation that the signatories see the need for sustained dialogue and affirm “the principles of coexistence, peace, and a shared commitment.” The Accord ends with a desire to explore ways for meaningful joint action which are ambitious and include the potential for shared public statements during Middle East crises, something the world could certainly benefit from.

Will the ad in the New York Times and the Drumlanrig Accord change anything? That remains to be seen but they surely sow seeds for peace. The statements in themselves cannot be undone.  They are a sign of how things could be between faith communities, a sign of the Kingdom of God and in their own small way I believe they do affect for the better the reality in which we all live.  


0 Comments

For  a Better Future

2/2/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
For a Better Future was the theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, celebrated last week on 27th January on the day that the Russian troops entered Auschwitz – Birkenau concentration camp and saw the horrors that that had taken place there. The Holocaust or Shoah, meaning catastrophe or ruin, as the Jews prefer to call it, is a low point in human history and shows the depth of depravity that human beings can descend to. I have to acknowledge that if one human being can do it all human beings including myself can do it and I understand a little more the meaning of that phrase in the Lord’s Prayer which asks “lead us not into temptation “for given different circumstances who know what I or any of us might collude with.

The services to commemorate the day were as always very moving, particularly the testimony of the survivors who still suffer the effects of that dreadful experience. It’s not possible to listen and not be filled with a deep sadness and puzzlement as to why the Nazis would systematically plan to exterminate Jewish people across 22 countries with the active participation of some of the citizens of those countries.

Twenty years ago I was privileged to be part of a visit to Poland to explore what had been and now was the place of the Jewish community.  The group consisted of 14 Christians from different denominations and one person from the Reform Jewish tradition, whose presence gave an added and much needed dimension to the visit and did not allow us to forget the pain many British Jews still carry within them.  There were two parts to the programme: lectures organised by the Centre for Jewish Culture with an opportunity to explore both the Jewish and Polish districts of Cracow and a field trip to several small towns in Galicia where there had been thriving Jewish communities.  This included a day visit to Ukraine and a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.  The whole experience brought back memories for me of much of what I had been taught at university about Jewish – Christian relations and of the shame I had felt ever since learning of the Christian treatment of the Jewish community throughout history which was given institutional expression in what was called the teaching on contempt for the Jews

The district of Kazimierz in which the Centre for Jewish Culture is situated is a different world from the main centre of Cracow. At its height Kazimierz was the intellectual and economic centre of Polish Jewry and was called the ‘Galician Jerusalem’. There is a medieval air about it and each day we passed monuments of Jewish life, the mikvah, the ritual slaughter house, synagogues, community centres, all of which evoked the vibrant Jewish community that thrived there for centuries from the Middle Ages to the Second World War until the community was forced into the ghetto on the other side of the city before its liquidation and the transportation of the remaining Jewish population to concentration and death camps where they subsequently died or were murdered.
 The most difficult moment of the trip was facing up to the horrors of the Holocaust and of the death camps.  The trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau exposed the reality of an evil that must lurk in the hearts of all human beings. The systematic degradation and humiliation of the Jewish community and the absolute squalor of what life must have been like in Birkenau seemed to be beyond evil.  While the murder of the Jewish community was perpetrated by the Nazis many Poles were indifferent to it and in one place, Jedwabne, it was Poles who were responsible for the slaughter of 1,600 Jews.  Some Poles betrayed their neighbours but there were many others who hid and helped their Jewish neighbours, and many Poles are included within the ranks of Righteous Gentiles. 

The visit raised many questions and challenges.  How are the Churches to cope with the anti- Jewish language of the scriptures?  How do Christians deal with the question of supercessionism?  How does humanity and Christianity cope with the reality of the Holocaust?  Do we recognise just how traumatic it is still for the Jewish community who thought they had found a safe home in the State of Israel only to have that shattered on October 7th when Hamas invaded and killed 1,200 including babies and children and abducting 250 Jews. Even in their own land it would seem they are not safe.

For me this year’s Holocaust Memorial event included the pain of what happened in Israel in 2024 but also the pain of ordinary Palestinians caught up in a war that is not of their making. This was the backdrop for what I was witnessing as I shed tears over the testimonies of survivors of the Holocaust. While the Jewish community remembers the Shoah, the Palestinian community remembers the Nakba which also means catastrophe and refers to the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in 1948. It so happened that on the news the day of HMD was the long march of Palestinians returning to the homes in Gaza to find them totally destroyed. Families travelling with joy and hope at coming home could not even find the street in which they lived. How could they set up home with the belongings they had managed to take with them when they left. How do we feel the pain of both people and recognise their different but legitimate stories and reading of history? How do we not in any way belittle the horror of the Holocaust and the events of 7th October while feeling the pain of a war in which Pope Francis would say there are no winners for there are never winners in war. Is it to refrain from taking one side against the other but to feel the pain of both and in doing so to honour that pain and long for and pray for its  transformation in peace which even with the present cease fire seems a long way ahead?

0 Comments

The Mela and the Jubilee

19/1/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
There’s always something interesting happening in the world of religion and this week is no exception. At present the Kumbh Mela is taking place in India. It began on 13th January and will end on 26th February. It’s thought to be the largest religious gathering in the world and has captured the imagination of the world’s press.  Over the 6 weeks about 600 million people will gather in Prayagraj in Utter Pradesh to take part in a great festivity of faith and culture with the central act being a ritual bathing in what is thought to be the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and a mystical underground river, the Saraswati.  According to ancient myth, after gods and demons had churned the ocean for the nectar of immortality, 4 drops fell in Haridwar, Nashik, Ujjain, and Prayagraj. Every 12 years there is a large gathering in one of these sacred places, but this year is especially significant as it is a great or Maha Kumbh Mela which takes place every 144 years, marking each 12th Kumbh Mela.  

Why it is of interest to me is because I visited Haridwar in a year of the Kumbh Mela. The festivities were over but the tents and infrastructure necessary for such a large gathering were still being dismantled so it was easy to see just how large a gathering it had been. I was with a Hindu couple who are friends, and we took a boat to the point where the three sacred rivers met and, surprisingly, there was a noticeable difference in the colour of the two visible rivers. A boat pulled up beside ours with a shrine and priest on it and we were encouraged to engage in a puja, a religious ritual of offering prayers, light and in this case a coconut to the Goddess Saraswati, after which my friend, the wife of the couple, bathed in the sacred rivers. What has stayed with me is the devotion with which my friend performed the puja and bathed in the river, believing it to be a moment of forgiveness and renewal. She was moved to tears by the experience which her more sceptical husband was less inclined to engage in, being aware of opportunities for financial and political advantages that can occur at such times. But for me it was an opportunity to enter the world of another and move beyond the observation of a ritual which certainly at a time of Kumbh Mela can seem quite exotic to appreciate the inner significance of a truly spiritual experience for a person of faith.  

 All religions have their times and places of pilgrimage and renewal, expressed in different ways. For Muslims it can be a visit to Mecca and walking round the Kabbah, for Jews praying at the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. It so happens that this year, a bit like the regularity of the Kumbh Mela, Catholics are celebrating a Jubilee Year or Holy Year which takes place every 25 years. It too is a moment of renewal and recommitment and has its own symbolism. In this case it is the symbolism of a door. There is a door at the front of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome which is usually bricked up from the inside and only opened by the Pope at the beginning of a Holy Year.  It is known as the Holy Door and crossing its threshold is a symbol of conversion, of seeking forgiveness of sin and a recommitment to live a Christian life of love and service. More than 30 million pilgrims from all over the world are expected to head to Rome to pass through the door and seek forgiveness for their sins. This jubilee is one of Hope, something the world needs badly. In opening the door in St Peter’s on Christmas Eve Pope Francis said “Tonight, the door of hope has opened wide to the world” and “God speaks to each of us and says: ‘there is hope also for you! The year is meant to have a positive, affirming, inclusive and global message which in the Pope’ words is that the light of Christian hope will illumine every man and woman, as a message of God’s love addressed to all! And that the Church will bear faithful witness to this message in every part of the world!” 
​
There will of course be sceptics and cynics who don’t find this helpful and are aware of the economic costs to such a project as well as economic advantages for some.  But many will journey to Rome to take part in religious exercises in a true spirit of faith. There is much in religion that can look rather strange and even ridiculous which is part of its rich tapestry. It cannot be understood or appreciated from the outside but only from the inside and a recognition of the symbolism which like the finger pointing to the moon leads to a reality that can be transforming if open to it.
 
Hopefully the millions of people taking part in the Maha Kumbh Mela and in the Jubilee year, as well as those taking part in the Hajj and other religious services and festivals as well as serving others, either in religion or not, will benefit our broken world and all sentient beings. There is a lot of good energy around and remembering it and harnessing it can surely be a sign of hope that can help us face this year positively, determined to do our best for our neighbour and our world.

0 Comments

January 19th, 2025

19/1/2025

0 Comments

 
 
0 Comments

Salt and Light

6/1/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
We are now quarter of a century into what I still think of as the new millennium. The holiday season is coming to an end, and people are returning to work – to auld claes and porridge as we say in Scotland. Some people will have done so full of new year resolutions and good intentions to better their life in some way. Christmas greetings have been exchanged with aspirations of peace and good will towards all. But will anything change? Sociologists say that the world is less violent now than it was in the past but the destruction that we see nightly on our television sets and the sophistication of the weapons that are used today leave me with a sense of foreboding, so much so that many of our Christmas carols, focussing as they do on Bethlehem, seemed very empty this year. However, I have found some hope in last week’s  daily meditations that come from the Centre for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico set up by Richard Rohr.

This week these mediations have focussed on the theme of salt and light, reflecting on two verses from the Gospel of Matthew, “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”
Mth 5:13-15 

Debie Thomas, one of the authors who commented on this theme, pointed out that salt and light are about identity. They express what Christians are, not just what they are to become. You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world… though there is a warning that it’s possible for salt to lose its flavour and light to be hidden under a bushel. So, what does salt do? In a meal it’s invisible but brings out the taste of the food and makes it palatable. Too much of it can embitter rather than enhance, ruin rather than preserve, irritate rather than soothe. For better or worse, Debie Thomas suggests that as Christians “we are the salt of the earth, and what we do with our saltiness matters. It matters a lot. Whether we want to or not, whether we notice or not, whether we’re intentional about it or not, we impact the world we live in.”  This sense of impacting the word I live in, trying to be intentional about it gives me some hope in situations where I feel powerless to change anything. And I can do it in small ways by trying to enhance a situation, sustaining life and meaning, and looking to the well-being of all. It reminds me of the Jewish belief in tikkun olam which I find very helpful where we are called to repair our broken world bit by bit, small steps at a time. Or the Tibetan Buddhist prophecy of Shambhala warriors who will bring about the Kingdom of Shambhala through the weapons for compassion and wisdom - both similar to the Christian belief in the Kingdom of God.
  
Like salt light too is necessary for life. The Jewish New Testament scholar Amy-Jill Levine, another scholar working with Rohr, focused on Jesus’ exhortation to his disciples to be the “light of the world”.  Without light, she suggested, “we have no plants, no warmth, no beacons. Just as salt can become so diluted that it loses its intrinsic character as salt, so light can also be snuffed out. Thus light, too, is a precious commodity that must be preserved. And just as too much salt can kill, too much light can blind. Effective light does not call attention to itself; rather, it lights up the world…. “. And this is what Christians are called to – to be lights in the world. Amy-Jill Levine goes on “Once the disciples recognize that they are light, they also recognize that their role is to shine so that others can find their way. Jesus knows that, just as salt can lose its intrinsic identity, light can be hoarded and fail to fulfil its proper function. He states first the obvious: “A city built on a hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14). His followers are to become like that city: a refuge, a home, a place where there is salt and light, love and compassion….”   And again, we can do it in little ways wherever we find ourselves.

I found these images helpful and refreshing, much as I have known the scripture passages all my life. Can I be salt and light, can I see the salt and light in people and events around me? It’s like kingdom spotting and once begun its everywhere. Can it change the trajectory the world seems to be on? If I believe as I do in the deep interconnectedness of all things and all sentient beings which includes energy and intention then I can believe that the salt and the light is working away for good even in invisible ways. It’s like a great movement of which I can be a member, and which has the potential to silently transform the world. This Christmas it has given me hope.
 

0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    I am  a Catholic nun, involved in interfaith relations for many decades.  For me this has been an exciting and sacred journey which I would like to share with others.

    Picture

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    RSS Feed

    Categories
    Religious Performances
    ​​

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.