Interfaith Relations

Welcome to this space where we share Interfaith information, news and initiatives happening in the Hamilton Diocese.

In the encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis calls on us to be ‘neighbours without borders’. “The future is not monochrome,” writes the Holy Father, “If we are courageous, we can contemplate it in all the variety and diversity of what each individual person has to offer.”

Volunteers from Rimbrook Study Centre run a holiday programme three times a year for refugee children who are from a diverse range of cultures and faiths. Rimbrook Study Centre is a female university residence, looked after by the prelature of Opus Dei. Click on the image to read more.

Each year, parishioners from our Catholic community gather with those of other faiths and cultures for an interfaith tree planting at Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park. Click on the image to read more.

 

What does the Church teach on Inter-religious dialogue?

Pope Francis in his encyclical letter Laudato Si not only addresses Catholics but people of all faiths. The year 2015, marked 50 years since Nostra Aetate statement was released by the Second Vatican Council - an excerpt from it states:

"The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions ... The Church, therefore urges her (children) to enter with prudence and charity into discussion and collaboration with members of other religions. Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, also their social life and culture"

All Catholics are called to dialogue and to cooperate with other faiths and religions (Nostra Aetate, Pope Paul VI, 1965). This can happen in our everyday lives but there are also special occasions for interfaith “dialogue” which include actions such as this tree planting event. It would be great to have a strong Catholic representation at interfaith events. You can read more about the Catholic perspective on Interfaith in the booklet Promoting Interfaith Relations produced by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Committee for Interfaith Relations. Click the image below to view and download the booklet for free.

Want to get involved in future initiatives?

To keep in the loop with future interfaith events, please contact our Catholic representatives on the Waikato Interfaith Council:

 

Upcoming Events

Latest News

March 2023

NZ Catholic Bishops Committee for Interfaith Relations: please view our latest resources in this link 

https://www.studyjoy.nz/2023/03/10/nzcbcir/

November 28th 2021

Hosted by the Waikato Interfaith Council ( WIFCO) Hamilton New Zealand, This online service had members of different faiths gather together online for a sharing of Interfaith perspectives on the theme of gratitude. Paul Flanagan and Teresa Fernandez said a prayer and Tara sang a song as part of the Catholic contribution to the service. There were contributions from many different faiths. You can view the service here:

July 18th 2021

Despite it being the middle of winter, over two hundred people gathered on the morning of July 18, for a multicultural (and interfaith) tree planting event at Waiwhakareke National Heritage Park in Hamilton. The warm winter sun shone on people of many different ethnicities and religions, all gathered to plant approximately two-thousand native trees. Pope Francis would have been pleased, given his teaching that “Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home… I want to recognize, encourage and thank all those striving in countless ways to guarantee the protection of the home which we share.” (Laudato Si, 13.). Read more here.

March 15th 2021 A time for prayer and peace

The NZCBC Committee for Interfaith Relations send a letter to Muslim and Catholic communities to commemorate a year since the March 15th mosque shootings:

“We continue to pray and work for rich dialogue with, and warm welcome to, those of diverse beliefs and cultures. We acknowledge that intolerant and violent attitudes and behaviours still exist in Aotearoa, but we believe that the united power of love, lived out as neighbours and friends, has the capacity to re-create our society.” Colin MacLeod, NZCBC Committee for Interfaith Relations.

We invite you to read the letter in full here.

November 1st 2020 Interfaith Service

Thanks to Lynnette Lopez-Raman who said a prayer at the Waikato Interfaith Service on 1st November 2020 at the Hamilton City Council Reception Lounge. She provided the Catholic representation amongst the many faiths that participated in the service.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity (to represent the Catholics with a prayer). I thought for a moment, I would only be there for a while and leave after my prayer. I just could not leave as I felt that every one of them had some great words of wisdom and it was very enriching. I waited till the end and then left. I could not stay for the mingling as I had other commitments. In short .. the whole experience.. I felt that we were all one and all barriers were broken and we came together to give thanks to God our Creator."

October 29th 2020 Peace-making gesture of Muslim community toward Catholics in Palmerston North

Three people were killed in a stabbing attack at Notre-Dame de Nice, a Roman Catholic basilica in Nice, France, on the morning of 29th October. This brought about much grief and reopened wounds for the Muslim community in New Zealand. Br. Hazim, former president of the Federation of Islamic Associations in New Zealand (FIANZ), decided to take action and addressed the congregation at the Catholic Cathedral in Palmerston North after the Sunday morning mass on All Saints Day. Dr Mary Eastham, a committee member of the Palmerston North Interfaith Group and a member of the NZ Catholic Bishops Committee for Interfaith Relations, wrote this article to highlight the peace-making gesture of the Muslim community towards the Catholic people after this terrible event. Read the article by Mary Eastham here.