WFWP Ireland supported the most recent event of the Sisters of Faith for Peace (SFP) which had the privilege of being hosted by Christ Church Cathedral, with the support of the Dean of the Cathedral. It took place on 19 Oct 2015 in Dublin, Ireland.
In these turbulent times when the media on occasions portrays religion as a source of conflict it is so beautiful and empowering to see so many women from different faiths coming together and sending out a clear message of peace. Among others, we had women from the Muslim community in attendance as well as from both the Progressive and Orthodox Jewish congregations in Dublin, also from the Lutheran Christian, Catholic and Quaker communities and Unificationists.
The program began with welcoming remarks delivered by Ms. Ceni Owen on behalf of Christ Church Cathedral. Then Doris McCann gave us a brief introduction of the purpose and mission of the Sisters of Faith for Peace, reminding us that we are all one human family under God. ‘We see so much hatred and division in the world today, but we have to remember that we can only overcome division through unity, and hatred through love.’
We then had the key address delivered by Dr. Kenny, a distinguished writer in the field of Law and Religion. She reminded us that what Jews, Christians and Muslims have in common is that our religions and our various cultures all stress that there is no use in declaring that you love God if you reject the world. She challenged us to see God’s presence in every single human being. ‘There is no use in approaching God through customs and rituals if you do not approach your neighbour in friendship and in trust.’ Following on from her address, we were delighted to have the opportunity to have a private guided tour of the Cathedral.
After the tour we held a symbolic hand over of the ‘Unity Tree’ from our Jewish sisters of the Orthodox Hebrew Community to our Christian sisters from the Lutheran Church. The unity tree with its distinctive characteristics of its intertwining trunk symbolically represents the unity of the three Abrahamic faiths. We wrapped up the evening with some time to share and enjoy each other over tea and coffee.
This event concludes our trilogy of events representing the three Abrahamic faiths of Islam, Judaism and now Christianity. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who took the time to come to this event. When the world is tearing itself apart - this gives us an even stronger reason to come together!
Doris McCann WFWP Ireland President SFP Chairwoman