Agreement is only the second of its kind in the nation
CAMDEN (February 19, 2008) – Muslim and Roman Catholic faith communities in South Jersey have reached a landmark agreement that is intended to promote mutual respect and understanding, reinforce common values, while opening opportunities for cooperation and collaboration for the benefit of the wider society.
“An Agreement of Understanding and Cooperation between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden and The Muslim American Community Association” will be signed February 20 at the Voorhees Islamic Center (Lafayette Avenue and Haddonfield-Berlin Road) at 7:00 PM.
Among the representatives of the faith communities signing the Agreement will be Zia U. Rahman, managing director and trustee of the Muslim American Community Association and Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante, Bishop of Camden.
The agreement, only the second of its kind in the nation, contains five articles with commitments to uphold freedom of speech, thought, religion and conscience; to challenge religious and ethnic intolerance; to foster a deeper relationship based on knowledge, understanding and respect for each other’s history and traditions; to “build bridges” between the two faith communities; and to establish a joint committee and Catholic-Muslim Commission to assure that the agreement is fully implemented, as well as a Catholic-Muslim Institute to promote education in the respective faith communities.
“This Agreement is a significant step toward a deepening respect and understanding between the Muslim and Catholic faith communities in South Jersey. I thank the men and women of the Catholic-Muslim Commission for the months of enthusiastic work, prayerful reflection and dialogue that has led to this Agreement. It is my great hope and prayer that the Agreement will bring fresh opportunities for cooperation and collaboration in the years ahead,” said Bishop Galante in a statement released before the signing.
“As we move forward and call to mind the things that unite us, we do not gloss over our differences. Indeed, an honest acknowledgement of these differences, grounded in truth and good will, far from being an impediment, is necessary if there is to be authentic, fruitful dialogue, marked by reciprocity and mutual respect.
“Sustained by our love of the one God, we celebrate this Agreement as an important beginning of an ever-deepening relationship that will bring us closer together in a spirit of appreciation, understanding and collaboration on behalf of the common good,” Bishop Galante said.
The Agreement followed months of work by representatives of the Muslim, Catholic and Jewish Interfaith Group which was formed to bring the faith communities closer together. Last February, members of the group visited the mosque in Voorhees and heard a lecture about Islam from Zia Rahman.
Commission member Father Joseph Wallace, the diocese’s director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and pastor of Christ the King parish in Haddonfield said a year ago that he was hopeful that a formal agreement could be reached so the faith communities could “work together to champion one another’s causes.” The only other agreement Catholic-Muslim agreement was signed between the Muslim and Catholic communities in Rochester, New York in 2003.
“The relationship between the Church and the Islamic world is complex and sometimes sorrowful. Yet, the search for dialogue and understanding is essential for the future. We are happy to enter into this agreement as a testimony to our firm adherence to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which taught that the Church has a high regard for Muslims. We respect one another because of our love of God and because of our faith in Abraham,” said Father Wallace.
The Catholic-Muslim Agreement is the second such inter-religious agreement forged in South Jersey. A formal agreement of “Understanding and Cooperation” was signed on September 20, 2001 between the Diocese of Camden, the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey and the Tri-County Board of Rabbis at the Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill.