Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Melbourne (Agenzia Fides) - Following the terrorist attacks in London, Bishop Christopher Prowse Auxiliary of Melbourne stressed the need to build good relations and bonds of friendship between Christian and Muslim communitues in Australia. The Bishop is a member of the Australian Bishops’ Committee for doctrine and morals,
Recently Bishop Prowse was invited to speak at one of a series of recent meetings organised by the Muslim community in Melbourne: “I feel a better person since I built bonds of friendship with the Muslim leaders in this city - he said - “Prejudice must be put aside and replaced with dialogue and friendship. Relations with other religious communities, the Muslim community in particular, cannot be only theogical and doctrinal comparison. We must start by eliminating ignorance and reciprocal prejudice and promoting knowledge and exchange at the human level in a dialogue of life”.
Official estimates say there are between 350,000 and 400.000 Muslims in Australia among a population of 17 million. After Christianity, Islam is the second most widely practiced religion. Most Muslims are immigrants from Muslim countries, mainly Turks, Egyptians, Indonesians, Malaysians and Pakistanis, but there are also a few European converts about 5,000. Australia’s Muslims live mainly in and around Sidney.
The 150 members of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils are very active in the field of cultural, edcuation and social work. Since 1995 the Islamic League for Human Rights has been present in Australia. The country has 16 Centres for Islam and 75 main mosques. The most famous is Sydney Mosque with its Muslim Centre the largest in Australia. Besides activities run by the Muslim community, the University of Melbourne has its own Department for Islamic Studies and Arabic.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/07/2005 Righe: 25 Parole: 273)
