Posted on 07/16/2008 4:53:14 PM PDT by NYer
p>SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils is praying for peace and harmony among all people of good will during the World Youth Day activities in Sydney.
President Ikebal Patel sent out a statement this week in which he extended "sincere greetings to the Catholic community of Australia on behalf of the Muslims of Australia."
He continued, "I take this opportunity on behalf of the Muslims of Australia to also extend our good wishes to all Australians of all faiths on this auspicious occasion of World Youth Day and pray for peace, harmony and goodwill among all Australians and peoples all over the world.
"We also take this occasion as Australian Muslims to welcome His Holiness Pope Benedict as well as all other pilgrims to Australia."
Patel also mentioned that he is "particularly proud" that the Catholic Church accepted the offer of the Malek Fahd Islamic School in Sydney to host 350 pilgrims during the festivities.
Some Muslim school students will take part in serving the pilgrims, and the school will hold an interfaith event during the week.
On Thursday, Benedict will meet with 40 representatives of other faiths including Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu leaders.
More than 340,000 Muslims reside in Australia.
Father Mark Podesta, a World Youth Day spokesman, said the involvement of Islamic schools "is an opportunity to show the rest of the world that people of different backgrounds and different beliefs can live alongside one another in peace and goodwill and harmony."
May our youth be shining examples of christian faith!
Well...that’s nice.
May the Catholic youth witness to their faith by the very lives.
So I guess their backward “youths” won’t be wilding on the beaches teaching the Aussie girls a “lesson” for their publicly showing their bodies in public?
Sorry, I’ve lost trust in these people. Even as a minority they get out of hand. Show me where they show respect for others and the rights of women when they are in the majority.
And if my uncle had wheels, he'd be a truck.
I think that these Aussie Muslims will have problems with the jihadi types when the word gets out. I can’t say that I have heard of this sort of thing in the US, UK, Europe, or the Middle East.
Encouraging, if sincere.
Good for them.
Still, I’m hoping the Christian zeal in these young people might quietly plant the Seed of Truth in the minds of their Muslim hosts.....
These (islamist?) Aussies are nuts.
They're likely to get converted to Islam...
...Much less likely because if your faith in Christ is strong, then they will with the help of God bring by their living witness more likely bring the Muslims to Christ.
Just a gentle correcting.
Shows that the Muslims WILL respect STRONG CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP as seen by Pope Benedict XVI. God Bless him and his ministry of service to Christ the Good Shepard.
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