Our People

The Role of Religious Discourse in Places of Worship

Australian Christian Muslim Friendship Society
Melkite Catholic Centre, Greenacre

By Most Rev. Julian Porteous
Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney
19 August 2004

Religious discourse among people from different faiths in not new, but at this point in history Muslim Christian discourse has a particular importance. In the year 1076, Pope Gregory VII wrote to Al-Nasir, the Muslim Ruler of Bijâya, now present-day Algeria. The Pope said in a letter:

Almighty God, who wishes that all should be saved and none lost, approves nothing in us so much as that, after loving him, one should love his fellow, and that, what one does not want done to oneself one should not do to others. You and we owe this charity to ourselves especially because we believe in and confess one God, admittedly in a different way, and daily praise and venerate him, the Creator of the world and Ruler of this world.

These words, written almost a thousand years ago, remind us that a discourse between Muslim and Christian is grounded in profound common faith in the One Creator God. We share a common belief that God is Supreme, Everlasting, Almighty, Merciful and Compassionate. God is the One we praise and extol in our prayers and worship.

Discourse builds friendship

Earlier this year, the inaugural meeting of the Christian Muslim Friendship Society in June, the theme of “brotherhood” was discussed. Our faith in the One God who has created each of us immediately leads us to recognise that we are all part of the human brotherhood. We both believe that we come from one ultimate parentage – Adam and Eve – and, more than that, we are the spiritual sons of Abraham, giving us a spiritual relationship with each other. These things we believe draw us to the consciousness of the bonds that exist between us.

This awareness of what unites us calls us into discourse with one another. We, who are people of faith, who kneel in worship and prayer before the One God, can take the leadership and embrace the responsibility of promoting discourse and friendship for the good of our people and of the society as a whole.

Any discourse is firstly a meeting of persons. It is a desire to speak and to respectfully listen to the other.

Discourse is not something that happens up in the air: discourse leads to interpersonal communion, that is, it establishes the basis for friendship. From discourse common goals are able to be identified and pursued. 

This meeting tonight, and indeed the formation of this Society, bears witness that we who believe in the One God, though of different religious traditions, want to have a discourse that brings us together, and builds up interpersonal relationships that can bear fruit in harmony and mutual respect. What we are able to build among ourselves can then flow to the society about us. We become agents of peace.

In 1992 Cardinal Arinze, head of the Vatican Congregation promoting inter-religious dialogue, wrote in a message to Muslims upon the celebration of ‘Id al-Fitr, the Feast of the Breaking of the Fast (at the End of Ramadan):

…no true peace can ever be achieved without the guidance and constant assistance of God, the Author of Peace. … Only if we commit ourselves to true cooperation can there be a hope of peace. This demands dialogue. It requires that we involve ourselves in the slow and difficult task of coming to know each other better, of listening respectfully and speaking frankly, of trying to understand the beliefs, hopes and sufferings of the other community, and of sharing sorrows even as we share joys. Inter-religious dialogue means building friendship and trust, coming to see each other not as enemies but as members of the same human family who believe in God and strive to do His will.

Respect for the Human Person

Both of our religions respect the dignity of the human person. Both Moslem and Christian are committed to the cause of peace in our society, in our communities, in our families, and in our hearts. 

Our dignity as human persons resides in God. We have dignity because God made us: God is our Creator. God created each of us to know and love Him. And because God holds all things in existence, giving life to all living things, we are called to love one another and uphold the dignity of each other.

Our faith in the sovereign dominion of God, common to the spiritual sons of Abraham, is for Muslim and Christian the sure foundation of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom. This is the religious patrimony of Islam, and is also the religious heritage of Christianity. For this reason, faith in God remains our common source for the building of a society in which all recognise each other as brothers walking towards the good in the light of God.

Places of Worship

When we are at prayer we are most truly ourselves. When we come before God, who is Truth itself, we carry no pretences or artificiality. The role of religious discourse in places of worship is important precisely because, to meet one another where we pray to God, where we are most truly ourselves, helps us to begin to see each other as we most truly are. We are sons and daughters of the One God. Therefore we may come to look upon each other as brothers and sisters, made by the one Creator of all.

When we meet each other in our respective places of worship, not only may we come to see the truth about each other more clearly, but we may point together to God who is the source of life and peace, and so help others find the path of peace and fullness of life.

We live in a troubled world, but the deepest truths of each of our faiths speak of peace, the dignity of each person, a brotherhood and acclaim the One God as All Merciful and Compassionate.

As believers, we Christians and Muslims, are “God seekers”. The Book of Psalms, the Zabûr, describes this human endeavour as a search for the Face of God. “My heart has said of you, ‘Seek his face’. Lord, I do seek your face; do not hide your face from me” (Ps. 26).

As we seek God in our own hearts and faith, may we be led on the paths of peace and harmony, for the good of our peoples and for the good of our society.