S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 A meeting in Foz do Igua\u00e7u, Paran\u00e1, should bring together Christians and Muslims next Saturday (24). Coordination is by the Children\u2019s Pastoral, an organisation connected to the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), under the Catholic Church, and the Islamic community in the city. The objective of the International Christian-Muslim Meeting is to bringing together representatives of both faiths around an image of Mary, a figure who is admired both by the Christians and the Muslims.<\/p>\n
Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, the saviour to the Christians and a prophet to the Islamists. \u201cIn Brazilian culture, Mary is greatly respected,\u201d says Cl\u00f3vis Boufleur, International Relations Manager at the Children\u2019s Pastoral and general coordinator of the event. The meeting should take place at the Itaipu Belvedere and should bring together 7,000 people. Most should be Brazilians, but there will also be representatives from Lebanon, the United States, Nepal, Kenya, Turkey, France, India, Thailand, Sweden, Switzerland, El Salvador, Panama, Argentina and Paraguay.<\/p>\n
The idea behind promoting the meeting took place after a similar event in Lebanon. Last year, Nelson Arns Neumann, the coordination of the International Children\u2019s Pastoral, a doctor and the son of Zilda Arns, the organisation\u2019s founder, participated in the meeting of the Secretariat for the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, in New York, in which he heard the Lebanese Mohammad Sammak, secretary general of the Committee for Christian-Muslim Dialogue, speak about the event. The World Day of Prayer and Action for Children is an initiative of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC).<\/p>\n
On returning to Brazil, Neumann approached the CNBB, seeking support of the Catholic Church, with Muslim leaderships. The initiative was approved in both scopes. The theme chosen was \u201cMary, an example to us all\u201d. The figure of Mary, a mother figure, makes sense for the meeting as the Children\u2019s Pastoral works with pregnant women and children up to six years of age. \u201cThe interest of wellbeing of children is common to both religions,\u201d said Boufleur. <\/p>\n
The meeting takes place from 9:00 am to 04:00 pm, but from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, the main addresses should take place, by Dom Geraldo Majella Agnelo, the Brazilian cardinal and co-founder of the Children\u2019s Pastoral, and by the Lebanese Sammak. There will also be addresses by other leaders, like Dom Dirceu Vegini, Bishop of the Dioceses of Foz do Igua\u00e7u, and of the Religious leader of the Islamic Beneficent Society of Foz do Igua\u00e7u, sheikh Mohamed Khalil, as well as by the mayor of Foz, Paulo Mac Donald Ghisi. In that hour, there will also be a moment in honour of Mary.<\/p>\n
At other times of the day, those present will be invited to visit the Mary\u2019s Tent spaces. In each one of them, experience will be exchanged about several topics involving Mary, like, for example, her example in care with children, pregnant women and the presence of Mary in the Bible and Koran, among others.<\/p>\n
According to the organizers of the event, the community in Foz is the second largest Arab and Lebanese community in Brazil, with around 17,000 members. The city borders Argentina and Paraguay, and, according to Boufleur, the objective of the meeting is also to help break the image of Foz do Igua\u00e7u, often called the city of terrorists. \u201cWe want to show that we are all builders of peace and to remove this negative stigma of the Muslims of the frontier,\u201d said Neumann, in a press statement disclosed by the Children\u2019s Pastoral. <\/p>\n
Service<\/p>\n
International Christian and Muslim Meeting<\/b>
Saturday, March 24th, 2012
Itaipu Belvedere (Av. Tancredo Neves, 6.731), Foz do Igua\u00e7u (PR)
Opening: 9:00 am. Closing: 4:00 pm
Congregation for Celebration of Mary: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm<\/p>\n
*Translated by Mark Ament<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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