Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined with more than 900 guests to take part in the annual Peace Symposium 2016 that was held recently in Sydney.
This interfaith/multicultural event, hosted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community of Australia, took place at the Masjid Bait-ul-Huda; one of the largest Mosques in Australia. The objective of the symposium was to learn how to find peace within our families, society & throughout the world through justice, love for all and social harmony.
In addition to Imam Inam-ul-Haq Kauser, throughout the night presentations were given by guest dignitaries representing the cultural, political and religious landscape of the Western Sydney area, including: Uncle Greg; representing the Aboriginal community, Ms Michelle Rowland MP; Member for Greenway, Mr Mark Taylor MP; Member for Seven Hills, Ms Prue Car MP; Member for Londonderry, Mr Kevin Conolly MP; Member of Riverstone, Mr Mark Coure MP; Member for Oatley, Strathfield Councillor Raj Datter.
Many different religious groups and community leaders were in attendance, including Fr Patrick McInerney from the Columban Mission Institute and Ms Louise McKeogh from the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta.
Fr Patrick is working with members of Latter-day Saints and other faith groups toward the 2nd Youth Parliament of the Worlds' Religions in Sydney. In its 2015 inaugural, the event attracted over 400 young people as well as religious and community leaders. Those involved are eager to reach a larger audience after the success of last year's event. Some of the faiths involved are Muslim, Jew, Baha'i, Buddhist, Sikh and a variety of Christian denominations. This event will be held on Saturday 3rd of September at Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College, North Sydney.
Ms McKeogh is involved in the Women of Diversity Dinner that is headed by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. The project is a partnership of Aboriginal, Armenian, Catholic, Chinese, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ethnic Communities’ Council of NSW, Jewish, Muslim, Settlement Services International, South Asian, Uniting Church and Independent women.The aim is to bring Sydney women together to build relationships around an issue of shared focus. This year the theme is “Harmony Starts At Home”, referring to family harmony - against domestic violence - and community harmony in our wider society. This dinner will be held in September at Petersham Town Hall on Saturday 17th of September.
On the topic of being able to attend with others so actively engaged in the interfaith community, Dr Emily Kwok, Latter-day Saint NSW Director of Public Affairs stated, “seeing them last night brought home to me once again how tightly joined we can be when we focus on our common values and interests.”
