NZ bishops’ committee sends message to Muslims

Tuesday, July 29th, 2014

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Committee for Interfaith Relations has sent a message to Muslim communities in New Zealand.

Sent to mark the Muslim feast of Eid-al-fitr, which ends the Ramadan period, the message encourages prayers and work for peace.

The text of the message reads:

“Dear friends,

“Eid al-fitr draws near. On behalf of the NZ Catholic Bishops Committee for Interfaith Relations, I wish you all the blessings of this holy feast which ends the sacred time of Ramadan. We have watched and admired the great commitment you have brought to the prayer, fasting and alms-giving required of you during these days, and pray that the spiritual energy gained through your groundedness will bear fruit personally for each of you.

“Along with you, I am sure that your prayer during this last month has been concentrated on asking the common God we know and love to help us bring peace to our world. What is happening in Gaza, Iraq, Syria and many other places leaves us sad because of the many unnecessary deaths, the complexity of the issues involved and the seeming intractability of governments in finding solutions. It asks of us to put our minds and hearts to ways of helping end these conflicts of immense proportions.

“Even more than ever, the commitment in faith that we have must draw us together here in New Zealand to bring tolerance, to developing further clear headed thinking, and to restate to each other our strong desire to build a world where justice finds traction, peace is sought, and harmony between faiths is secured.”

It was sent by Fr Kevin Twomey, OP, on behalf of the committee.

Source: Sr Catherine Jones, SMSM