Jesus tells us not to uselessly question that which is reserved to God, which is precisely the course o f events... ’ - Pope John Paul II
C h u rc h e s re
Villa Francis resident
IN T H E F O O T S T E P S O F T H E P O P E . . .
Archbishop Chia issues first Pastoral Letter
Urgency of dialogue between faiths, communities an inter-civilisation seminar By Christopher Khoo
THE tragedy of Sep 11 and the sufferings and tensions in its aftermath have brought to the consciousness of the world the ur gent need to build a culture of respectful dialogue and cooperation between all the members of the human family. In the shadow of that tragedy, His Holiness Pope John Paul II issued a powerful message for the World Day O f Peace, Jan 1, 2002. The theme of his message, No Peace Without Justice. No Justice Without Forgiveness, addresses a number of issues in our contempo rary world, placing emphasis on the necessity of justice and forgiveness as the source and condition of true peace for all. To eliminate the social and cul tural causes of terrorism, religious leaders must work together and em phasize the greatness and dignity of the human person and the oneness of the human family and at the same time take the lead in publicly con demning terrorism and denying terrorists any form of religious or moral legitimacy. In our pursuit of peace in the world, let us bear in mind that peace is the work of justice and love. True peace is the fruit of justice which ensures full respect for rights and responsibilities, and the just distri bution of benefits and burdens. Human justice however is al ways fragile and imperfect due to the limitations and egoism of indi viduals and groups. Hence there must also always be a place for torgiveness which heals and rebuilds troubled human relations. Forgive ness is the opposite of resentment and revenge, not of justice. We need to work together to eliminate the social and cultural causes of terror ism. His Holiness sees the need to pray for peace, for to pray for peace
Archbishop Chia: It is my hope that you will generously respond to the ardent request of His Holi ness and participate in our Archdiocesan District Prayer Serv ice and Pilgrimage.
is to open the human heart to the inroads of God’s power to renew all things. With the life-giving force of his grace, God can create openings for peace where only obstacles and closures are apparent. To pray for peace is to pray for justice and freedom. To pray for peace is to seek God’s forgiveness and implore the courage to forgive those who have trespassed against us. Bearing in mind that Religions call for a human solidarity through understanding and peace, and as a sign of our solidarity, Pope John Paul II has invited representatives of the world’s religions to sign a COMMITMENT TO PEACE at the Assisi Pilgrimage in Italy. This Pil grimage will be held on Jan 24, 2002. As a spiritual preparation for • Continued on Page 16
HOW does one forge bonds and build trust among religions and eth nic communities? What are the ob stacles to building such relation ships in multi-religious and multi ethnic Singapore? These were some of the tough questions which speakers and par ticipants at a public dialogue ses sion on Jan 12 grappled with in the wake of the Sep 11 tragedy and the recent arrests of Singaporeans linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. Titled Inter-Civilisation Dia logue, the seminar was organised by the Centre For Contemporary Is lamic Studies and drew some 300 participants of various faiths. Retired Methodist Bishop Dr Yap Kim Hao, co-chairman of the organ ising committee, which comprised members of different faiths, said in his opening address, that this semi nar was the first in a series of dia logue sessions for religious commu nities to “meet, discuss, share ideas and respond together on matters of common interest and concern”. Guest-of-honour, former presi dent Wee Kim Wee, in his address, expressed the hope that the delib erations here could contribute to the “search for a peaceful co-existence that might serve as a model for our global world”. Archbishop Nicholas Chia, the keynote speaker for the event, told the crowd, “A true dialogue be tween cultures requires respect for differences. Authentic culture cannot be built upon the practice of religious intolerance and persecution... Reli gious freedom must be upheld. A neighbour of another faith remains a neighbour not withstanding his or her religion.” Referring to the Internal Security Act arrests, he said it “showed us the seriousness of the threat of terrorism in our midst and in the region”. He stressed that it was the duty of
Panellists at the Inter-Civilisation Dialogue seminar on Jan 12: (from left) Mr Chandra Mohan, NMP; Assoc Prof Kirpal Singh, director, Singapore Man agement University; Assoc Prof Hussin Mutalib, NUS (moderator); SrTheresa Seow, Pontifical Council For Inter-Religious Dialogue; Assoc Prof Syed Farid Alatas, NUS and Dr Kevin Tan, Roundtable discussion group.
A cross section of the audience.
Singaporeans “to support the govern ment in its efforts against terrorism”. Assoc Professor Kirpal Singh, director of the Centre For Cross-Cul tural Studies at the Singapore Man agement University, suggested that
Singaporeans see their multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual con text as a cause for celebration, “some thing to be very proud and happy o f ’ - instead of seeing it as a “potentially explosive challenge”. Assoc Prof Syed Farid Alatas, from the Sociology Department of the National University Of Singapore, said that the education system and the media could do much to forge inter faith and inter-ethnic harmony. Young people could be taught about the multi-cultural origins of modem civilisation, the contribu tions and common values of various civilisations, and the common problems they face, he stated. Furthermore, students should leam not only about their own religion in school but all religions as well. As far as the media is concerned, • Continued on Page 16