Commemoration of the Noble Birth of the Prophet (March 15)

For the first time, Catholics hosted Muslims to commemorate the Noble Birth of their Prophet Mohammed (pbuh).

The evening coincided with the beginning of Holy Week for the Catholics.

The theme for the evening was "The Servanthood and Submission of Jesus and the Prophet".

The program was in two parts, each part containing a reading from the sacred text, a presentation on the theme, and some music and singing from that religious tradition. (Click here to download the powerpoint display of the program).

The speaker for the Muslims was Professor Ismail Albayrak, the new Fethullah Gülen Chair in the Study of Islam and Muslim-Catholic Relations from the Asia-Pacific Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue at Australian Catholic University.

The speaker for the Catholics was David Schütz, the Executive Officer of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission. (Click here to download the powerpoint display of David's presenation)

More than a hundred people attended the event, at the end of which commitments were made regarding the ways in which we would serve God and one another in the future. (Click here for video of the making of the Intentions)

The Crowd gathers...

The Hafiz chants from the Qur'an

Professor Albayrak gives his address

Mr Emre and Mrs Fulya Celik from the AIS, co-sponsors of the event

The Australian Sufi Group

Gwenda Rait thanks Professor Albayrak for his presentation