A Shared Experience: Working Together with Muslims, Christians and Buddhists

The 24th of June marked a Multifaith Community Event which brought together youth groups from 3 separate religious faiths to build dialogue and cooperation between them.

Building Bridges: A Multi-Faith Community Service Event was organized by the Religious Youth Service, Australian Islamic Council, Carmelite Monastery, the Loreto Sisters, and Fo Guang Shan Temple.

The Event was opened by the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests, the Hon. Tony McRae MLA, who gave a very positive message of togetherness.

This was followed by interfaith prayers delivered by Imam Jalil of the Rivervale Mosque, Reverend Sanderson Austin of the Maylands Spiritualist Church, and Reverend Yao of Fo Guang Shan Temple. Reverend Rick McInerheney, the Chairman of the Universal Peace Federation Australia, chaired the opening ceremony.

Attendees of the event included Mr Rahim Ghowry, the President of the Australian Islamic Federation and Mr Angelo Natanni, the WA State Director of the Family Federation for World Peace.

The aim of Building Bridges was to encourage and promote meaningful dialogue between people of various religious and cultural backgrounds through working side by side in community service.

During the day, participants worked together to clean up an extension building for the Rivervale Mosque, pulling weeds, cleaning walls, and mopping floors to work together for a common cause. The hard work was followed with a Halal lunch at the Mosque for all participants, and a talk by Imam Jalil to provide a better understanding of Islam.

The Muslim, Christian and Buddhist participants later visited the Carmelite Monastery to speak with the cloistered nuns within its walls. This was followed by a visit to Loreto Convent, with a tour by the Loreto Sisters. Participants ended the day at Fo Guang Shan Temple, taking part in a Buddhist prayer and a question and answer session.

Religious Youth Service was a project developed at the 1985 Assembly of World Religions to foster respect, cooperation and understanding among religions. The project has been organizing community service with members of all faiths for over 20 years, involving over 5000 volunteers in more than 37 countries.

Fazida Razak (RYS) and the Hon. Tony McRae, MLA

Kate (St Vincent de Paul) and Ga Vin (YAD)