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The agency of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster for Interreligious Dialogue |
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A print edition of Westminster Interfaith Newsletter is published five times a year and is available by subscription, currently £15.00 per calendar year from :-
Westminster Interfaith,
Westminster House,
Watford Way,
Hendon,
NW4 4TY.
Cheques should be made payable to 'Westminster Interfaith'.
Go to Current Newsletter
The Derasar at Potters Bar
Addenda
When preparing the printed Newsletter we sometimes have items that do not make it into print for lack of space,or maybe the subject is no longer topical by the time of the next issue. Some that we feel may nevertheless still be of interest are offered here.
Back Numbers of Newsletter
Issue 62 – July 2009Issue 61 – May 2009
Issue 60 – January 2009
Issue 59 – November 2008
Faiths Together
Muslim and Sikh
Faiths Together
Coptic Christian Cathedral
Faiths Together
Veedic Fire
Westminster Interfaith Newsletter
Issue 63 – September 2009
Greetings!
for Diwali to our Hindu, Jain and Sikh friends,
for the High Holy Days and Sukkoth to our Jewish friends
and for
Eid ul-Fitr
to our Muslim friends!
NATIONAL INTER FAITH WEEK
VISIT
Sunday
15th November, 2pm
Jain Oshwal Temple
at Potters Bar EN6 4DG
Visit will be
45-60 minutes.
Meet either at the Temple at 1.50 or at Potters Bar Station at 1.30 for a lift.
To book a place, phone Sr Elizabeth 0207 272 8048
& let her know if you need a lift.
Editorial – The Little Way
Together in overcoming poverty – 'Id al-Fitr message from Vatican
Faith Together Films – new Heythrop College course
Christians in the Holy Land – The Latin Patriarch speaks in London
Muslims Ask, Christians Answer – new website
Brother Daniel's Diary (8)
Moral and Spiritual values, world ethics – Archbishop Tauran in Kazakhstan
India: 2000 young people for peace and dialogue
Henri Tessier on grassroots relationships
Death, Dying and Bereavement in London
National Inter Faith Week – Zoroastrian Centre
Forthcoming Events
Calendar of Religious Festivals
The guru's cat – Anthony de Mello
The Little Way
First of all, we wish to convey belated but heartfelt greetings for a Happy New Year to the Jewish community and a Happy Eid to all Muslims. We also wish Happy Divali to all our Hindu, Jain and Sikh friends and families...
Full article here or Return to Index
Together in overcoming poverty
Message for the end of Ramadan from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
'Id al-Fitr 1430 H. / 2009 a.d.
Dear Muslim Friends,
1. On the occasion of your feast which concludes the month of Ramadan, I would like to extend my best wishes for peace and joy to you...
Full article here or Return to Index
'Faiths Together' Films – the launch
On Monday evening, September 14th 2009 at Heythrop College the 'Faiths Together' films were launched.
Dr Peter Vardy, Vice-Principal of Heythrop College, welcoming us reminded us of the episode when St Francis of Assisi, right in the middle of the Crusades decided that, rather than fight over the Holy Places in Jerusalem it would be better...
Full article here or Return to Index
Christians in the Holy Land
Bishop Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, was invited to London by Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, to help promote the organisation's work, especially in the Holy Land where oppression and poverty cast a shadow...
Full article here or Return to Index
Muslims Ask, Christians Answer website
'Muslims ask, Christians answer' is now a multilingual website created by Jesuit Fr Christian Troll. It is available in English, French, German, and Turkish and since May also in Italian...
Full article here or Return to Index
From Brother Daniel's Diary (8)
8/12/1988: The interfaith person needs to be most of all a humble person. We are but vessels. We are but channels. We are but clay. God is the one who fills us to the brim with his grace and his gifts. God is the one who provides the goods, money, services... we only distribute. God is the potter who fashions our destiny.
So why be arrogant about what we do, what we say? Why take a judgemental attitude and measure others by our own standards?
The Lord of all provides, is compassionate beyond measure, is Love, the Holy Mother, the Holy Prakriti at work. God is at play with the clay in his hands.
Maturity and holiness are achieved when we let God, the Holy Mother, the Lord play at will. Our letting God be Lord, play at will must be total and free, with no friction, no obstacle, no reluctance on our part.
Moral and spiritual values, world ethics
"We have to do good to avoid evil", says Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran in Kazakhstan.
At a workshop on "Moral and spiritual values, world ethics" during the Third Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, Kazakhstan on 2nd July 2009, Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, shared the following thoughts on the question: "Do objective moral values exist ...
Full article here or Return to Index
India: 2000 young people gather for peace and dialogue
Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs from all over the world gathered for six days, from 7-12 August 2009, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, in Southern India to take part in an international and inter-religious event...
Full article here or Return to Index
Henri Tessier on grassroots relationships
Personal friendship is the best way for Muslim Christian relationships
In a recent article in Oasis, Henri Tessier, Archbishop Emeritus of Algiers, explains briefly why Christians should be open to people of other faiths...
Full article here or Return to Index
Death, Dying and Bereavement in London
Wednesday, 14 October, 2009: 1pm to 5pm
Purpose of this event: To bring together a wide range of stakeholders to raise public awareness and support changing attitudes and behaviours in society in relation to death, dying and bereavement. This event will have a focus on issues of particular importance to the public and key stakeholders in London, taking into consideration its geography and population and service provision. It will also seek to identify future opportunities for taking dialogue around death, dying and bereavement forward through public facing events and campaigns.
Contact: Rose Parker at info@dyingmatters.org or by fax on 0207 697 1530.
Closing date for registration, Friday, 2 October.
Forthcoming Events
These are the events / organisers we know about, the list is not exhaustive:
September 2009 – Forthcoming Events or Return to Index
National Interfaith Week event – Zoroastrian Centre, Harrow
Westminster Interfaith has great pleasure in publicising this important interfaith event entitled: "Religious Philanthropy and Social Action: Tools for Cohesion & Building Stronger Communities", organised by the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) on Wednesday 18th November 2009...
Full article here or Return to Index
Calendar of Religious Festivals
Multifaith Calendars are seldom complete, ours is made to fit on an A4 page – you may find more celebrations listed and explained online by following some of the addresses on our Resources page.
Calendar: October 2009
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The guru's cat
Each time the guru sat for worship with his students the ashram cat would come in to distract them, so he ordered them to tie it when the ashram was at prayer.
After the guru died the cat continued to be tied at worship time. And when the cat expired, another cat was brought into the ashram to make sure the guru's orders were faithfully observed at worship time.
Centuries passed and learned treatises were written by the guru's disciples on the liturgical significance of tying up a cat while worship is performed.
From: "The song of the bird" by Anthony De Mello.
By kind permission of the publishers, Gujerat Sahitya Prakash Anand, India
