Mia Fox from the Diocesan Interreligious Commission writes about the Visit to the Yemeni mosque:
Over 40 people from the diocese visited the Yemeni Mosque, the oldest mosque in Britain, at South Shields on June 4th 2008. The visit was organised by the Commission for Interreligious Relations for the Diocese and was the fourth visit to another faith arranged under the title 'People of God Pilgrimage'.
The event began at a local church, Living Waters Church, and therefore with an ecumenical aspect. Refreshments were available while people chatted.
Mia Fox, the new chair of the Commission, introduced herself (Mia is one of the Catholic Chaplains serving Newcastle University and Northumbria University). Veronica Whitty, the contact person for the Commission, gave a short account of the reasons for the Yemeni community coming to live in South Shields. The information came from a current best-seller: "Pies and Prejudice" by Stuart Maconie. The Yemni community is now well integrated into the local community.
Mia mentioned a recent lecture by Cardinal Jean-Luis Tauran about the Church`s current position on inter-faith. You can download the lecture from this website or via the Catholic Communications Network England and Wales.
We then made our way to the nearby Mosque for our visit. We were warmly welcomed by Mr Abdullah Yusef, from the mosque. Two other members of the mosque were also on hand to answer questions and to explain the main tenets of Islam. Many people asked a variety of questions and there was a lively and encouraging encounter for an hour and a half.
A most illuminating part of the discussion centred on the role of the Virgin Mary in Islam, who is mentioned more often in the Qur'an than the Bible, though her life is described differently.
Those who attended were pleased to have the opportunity to meet other Catholics interested in inter-faith and share differences and similarities with another faith. One woman, who came on her own, said it was the first time she had taken part in a "People of God Pilgrimage" and she was glad she had come.
Our next event is the 'Prayer for World Peace' on Sunday 19th October at 3pm in Durham (venue to be arranged) with guest speaker Rev Sujatin Johnson, a Buddhist minister.