Religious communities must stand united in solidarity and show extremists that they will never succeed in dividing them, the Chief Imam of the Islamic Centre of Ireland, Shaykh Dr Umar al-Qadri, Chair of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council, said in a visit to Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin last month. Dr al-Qadri made his remarks in an address to the congregation before the Cathedral Eucharist on Sunday 28 April, one week after the Easter Day massacre in Sri Lanka which left 257 people dead. His visit mirrored one made to the Islamic Centre of Ireland in March, following the terror attacks at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In his address, the imam expressed solidarity with Christians in Ireland and worldwide, and said that, as Muslims, they strongly condemned the cowardly attacks against peaceful worshippers and stood in solidarity with the victims of these attacks and their Christian brothers and sisters everywhere.

“An attack on any place of worship is an attack on all places of worship”, he said. “An attack on any faith community is an attack on all faith communities. These attacks were not only attacks on Christians but these attacks were attacks on all of us.”

In addition to the 15 March attack on mosques in New Zealand, in which 50 people died, he also spoke about the Passover attack on 27 April at a synagogue in California, in which one worshipper was killed, and the attack six months earlier at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in which 11 people were killed.

“The terrorists behind the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka claimed to have acted in the name of Islam”, he said. “How dare they claim to have acted in the name of Islam. These terrorists trampled upon the fundamental teachings of Islam. These terrorists are guilty of committing the biggest blasphemy.

“The monsters behind the attacks on innocent human beings are not real Muslims. They do not represent Islam. In fact these monsters do not represent any faith or any community. They only represent extremism and terrorism. The same applies to those extremists that kill worshippers in the mosque and in the synagogue. They do not represent any faith nor any community. They only represent extremism and terrorism. These two evils are enemies of all humanity. Those behind the attacks are enemies of humanity.”

In the wake of the shooting in New Zealand, the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke at an interfaith gathering at Regent’s Park Mosque in London.

Much of what I was going to say has already been said. The killings in New Zealand are monstrous. The response of New Zealand, all its people, with Muslims in the forefront, is beautiful and inspiring. What they say to each other we say to you. Those who attack Muslims in THIS country or elsewhere attack every human being. You are not “the other”, you are us. Those who act out of hate for Muslims act out of hate for all here. Those who acted or supported the actions in New Zealand attack all of us.

• From the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) https://www.anglicannews.org/

The Anglican Communion’s Environment Network (ACEN) is encouraging Anglicans to reduce their use of plastic in Lent. Organisers hope that those taking part in the “plastic fast” will learn to use less plastic in the longer term in order to protect the earth’s environment. The Environmental Co-ordinator for the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Canon Rachel Mash, said that that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. “Plastic is already entering into our drinking water”, she said. “Plastic clogs our rivers, leaches into our soil and is one of the greatest challenges the planet faces.”

• From the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) https://www.anglicannews.org/

The International Anglican Women’s Network is calling for better coverage of women’s sports as part of International Women’s Day’s gender-balance 2019 theme, #BalanceforBetter.Photo Credit: Skeeze / Pixabay

Our Inaugural Community Meal was this last Friday the 22nd of February. It was good to meet more of the the Greenwood community over a shared meal. This month we were having Hamburgers and Sausage Sizzles. Next month we will have a different culinary theme. Everyone is welcome to be there. Here are a few photos from the evening.