Negombo: children and religions, a challenge for an open society united in diversity
Caritas Seth Sarana organised a meeting at Maris Stella College that saw the participation of Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist religious leaders, as well as Sri Lanka’s Religious Affairs minister. The purpose was to discuss ways to create new bases of coexistence with the help of every religion and “socialise people to be good citizens.” A Muslim leader hopes to see the project extended to the whole country.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – Caritas Seth Sarana recently organised a meeting at the Maris Stella College in Negombo, Archdiocese of Colombo, centred on “Love beyond religion and race”, aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue and a culture of outreach.
The gathering brought together various political and religious leaders to discuss ways to build new bases of coexistence. One of them was Vidura Wickramanayake, Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs.
In his address, the minister stressed that the challenge today is to give birth to a society that values the beauty that is present in every faith and in humanity, while not denying the “original teachings of each religion.”
To achieve this, “we need help from the mosque, temple, Kovil, and church to take steps to socialise people to be good citizens” and overcome mutual mistrust.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Diluni Tharangani, programme coordinator at Caritas Seth Sarana, said that Negombo is a multiethnic area, an ideal place for a “pilot project” to help “children understand the principles and values of different religions" in order to "build love and unity among them".
In addition to Caritas, the event was made possible by the cooperation of the departments of Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs working together, each bringing their contribution to learning about other religions.
At one point, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, and Christian religious leaders explained to the children and teens from Sunday school present at the event the principles needed to lead a life of mutual respect, outreach, and unity among different religions.
Some of the children and teens also spoke, saying that for them the meeting provided a great opportunity to learn about the four major religions, which should be extended to young people in other parts of Sri Lanka.
"This day is very valuable," a Muslim girl told AsiaNews. A group of Hindu kids from the Wijayarathnam Hindu School in Negombo agree.
For them, the meeting was a "happy day", learning “many things about other religions that we did not know. In addition, we are happy to have had the opportunity to meet other young people.”
Religious leaders also appreciated the meeting, like Islamic cleric Hasan Moulana.
“Even though I have attended programmes as an inter-religious leader for a long time, I am happy to say that this is the first one organised in a very meaningful way at a very high level so as to gain an understanding about all religions,” he said.
Cleric Moulana also urged Seth Sarana and Minister Wickramanayake to organise similar events in all of Sri Lanka’s 24 districts.
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