Location and audience: Marist Brothers High School students at Carew St. Suva.
Speaker: Ms. Pescila Magdalin. (Columban IRD coordinator)
On 25th of July 2024, I had the privilege of speaking to Catholic high school students about the importance of Interreligious dialogue. There were two separate religion classes on this day 904's class was from 10:50am to 11:40am, and 1103's class was at 1:20pm to 2:10pm, so I took this opportunity to share on the topic with the students and the religion teachers also attended.
This PowerPoint presentation to these students with some IRD activities done aimed to foster understanding, respect, and collaboration among individuals of different religious backgrounds.
The primary objectives of the talk and the presentation were to:
- Increase awareness, to enhance the students’ awareness of various religious traditions and practices.
- Promote Respect: encourage respect and empathy towards individuals from different faiths and advocate Dialogue: highlight the importance of constructive dialogue in building peaceful and inclusive communities.
The content included an introduction to Interreligious Dialogue, its definition, significance and examples of successful events that have been done in my activities here in Suva. The content also included religious diversity overviews of religions, commonalities and differences among religions.
The four forms of dialogue highlighted to the students were on: dialogue of life, dialogue of action, dialogue of theological exchange and religious experience.
More key points highlighted to the students were on some practical approaches towards the importance of listening and understanding, respect, mutual enrichment and how actions they apply in their daily lives can influence Interreligious Dialogue. The students were amazed to hear that learning about other religions can build bridges between different religions and enrich one’s own faith.
During the session, students asked insightful questions such as: how we can approach individuals who are different from us? I mentioned with a smile, just a smile is the way forward. Another question was; What are some practical ways to engage in interreligious dialogue? I shared some experiences on visiting and attending religious festivals, collaborating with different faiths from your community and doing a project/charity work to build relationships and mutual respect.
The talk concluded with the students to be ambassadors of respect and understanding in their communities. Some students mentioned that they had learnt alot, felt inspired after hearing and seeing images from IRD activities, it was the first time they had heard about Interreligious Dialogue.
I look forward to working with more students in Term III with the continued support of the school's Administrators.
Pescila Magdalin
Columban Interreligious Dialogue Coordinator, Fiji, Region of Oceania
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