Inter-religious encounter in Beer Sheba

On Thursday, the Inter-religious Council of Southern Israel had its meeting at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheba. The representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths from the region were present.

During the meeting Father Piotr, Catholic parish priest of Beer Sheba, delivered a lecture about the social doctrine of the Catholic Church with a focus on human rights. The Council meets once a month. Here is a quote from the end of the lecture that may give added motivation for the period of Lent for Catholic believers: "Christ made the law of love for one‘s neighbor his personal commandment. He sought to identify himself with his brethren as the object of love. Indeed, by taking on human nature he bound the whole human race to himself as a family through a certain supernatural solidarity and established charity as the mark of his disciples, saying, 'By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35). To those therefore who believe in divine charity he gives assurance that the way of love lies open to all men and that the effort to establish a universal brotherhood is not a hopeless one."