BISHOPS from Oceania visiting Townsville have taken time to visit the spiritual leader of the local Muslim community.<\/p>\n
The Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania was in the Northern Queensland city for an executive meeting when delegates decided to break with tradition.<\/p>\n
Federation President, Dr Peter Loy Chong – Archbishop of Suva \u00a0– said the bishops delivered a statement of support for the communities of Townsville and Christchurch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recent massacre at the mosques in Christchurch has brought deep grief to all of us. As church leaders of Oceania we condemn this evil attach and are chocked and horrified that such an atrocity should take place against innocent people,” Chong said.<\/p>\n
“We are equally horrified that it should be perpetrated in a place of prayer and worship, when freedom to worship is cherished in our countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Christchurch attack meant that that Bishop Paul Martin, prelate of the city, was unable to attend the Townsville meeting.<\/p>\n
During the visit, Imam Abdul Salik spoke passionately of the communion shared by all religions.<\/p>\n
“I feel honoured that you are here, We feel that we are not alone after this event in Christchurch\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no words to describe what has happened, I know in the teachings of Islam and every religion of the world that even the animals shouldn\u2019t be treated like this.”<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Oceania bishops said: \u00a0\u201cin times like this we should take the time to reflect on the way we treat one another as children of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salik said he was touched by the comment and after praying with the bishops, invited them to take tea with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of similarities and beliefs that are the same as the Islamic religion, there is no difference that we all believe we must respect, care, love, honour and give and respect the rights of all humans,\u201d Salik said.<\/p>\n
The Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania has members from: \u00a0Samoa am\u00e9ricaines<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Australie<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0\u00celes Cook<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Fiji<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0French Polynesia<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Guam<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Kiribati<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Marshall Islands<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Micronesia<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0New Caledonia<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0New Zealand<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Northern Mariana Islands<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Papua New Guinea<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Samoa<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Solomon Islands<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Tonga<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Tuvalu<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Vanuatu<\/a>\u00a0,\u00a0Wallis and Futuna<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BISHOPS from Oceania visiting Townsville have taken time to visit the spiritual leader of the local Muslim community. The Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania was in the Northern Queensland city for an executive meeting when delegates decided to break with tradition. Federation President, Dr Peter Loy Chong – Archbishop […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n