Christians, Muslims, Jews gather in prayer for peace

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
18 April 2004

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Christians, Muslims, Jews gather in prayer for peace

INTERFAITH: Visiting US Imam Feisal with Premier Bob Carr and the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell Photo by Rob Tuckwell

Cardinal’s address

It is my pleasant duty to welcome you all to this interfaith gathering at St Mary’s Cathedral. You are all welcome: Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus, those of uncertain faith and perhaps a few without faith. We are here to pray for continuing peace and mutual tolerance, especially in our own land of Australia.

I extend a special word of welcome to our guest Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of the Al-Farah Mosque, New York, who will be speaking to us later, to our Premier, the Hon Bob Carr, and the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice Jim Spiegelman.

I note with gratitude the presence of a significant number of senior students from our Catholic Schools. Your participation is particularly valuable because here today we are working and praying for your future, for the peace and harmony we hope you and your children will enjoy.

St Mary’s Cathedral is the mother church for all the Catholic communities in Australia. Governor Macquarie laid the foundation stone in 1821, 33 years after the first European settlement. It was 1821 before Australian Catholics obtained the continuing right to practise their religion publicly, eight years before Daniel O’Connell achieved emancipation, granting most basic freedoms, for Catholics in Britain and throughout the British Empire.

We Australians treasure our democracy, our religious freedoms, our traditions of free speech and mutual tolerance. Australian Catholics are certainly committed to defending these rights for all citizens.

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