“Dialogue and meeting are the keys to the future”, the wishes of the interreligious committee of Nîmes

Des voeux interreligieux présentés devant une centaine de personnes. Midi Libre – K. H.

United representatives of Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim faiths called for more fraternity this Sunday evening.

The news is tough, war in the Middle East, in Ukraine, anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack, global warming… There is no shortage of reasons to despair but, precisely, the Nîmes Interreligious Committee ( CIRN) wanted to bring a message of hope and fraternity at the start of the year. Wishes for harmony from the different religions present in Nîmes, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Muslim and Jewish, presented before a hundred guests – including many elected officials – gathered at the Grand Hôtel de Nîmes.

"Building brotherhood together"

It was Driss El Dmoundi, the president for Gard of the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM) who first called on everyone “to build our brotherhood on this Earth, in this country and in this Republic that we all love."

Invited to speak next, Nicolas Brouwet, the bishop of Nîmes, expressed two wishes: "Let us be careful not to import the Gaza conflict here into the Gard. And together, let's commit ourselves to serving the city. Because believing in God obliges us. Let's make the world a better place.

"Respecting others with their religion"

It was Abdallah Zekri, the vice-president of the Peace Mosque, who illustrated the strength of living together, its beauty and its power, evoking his marriage for fifty years to a practicing Catholic and his most beautiful memory, his meeting with Pope Francis. "We must respect others with their religion, secularism must not be aggressive so that everyone expresses themselves…"

"Dialogue and encounter are the keys to the future", insisted Father Serge Cauvas in turn, listing all these small (and large) actions which daily life are the basis of this living together in Nîmes: the investment of the Rocher association in Chemin-bas d'Avignon, the reception of migrants by a Protestant parish, the distribution of food to the most needy. .. "To create a fairer society and a more dignified world, without hunger and violence".

Pierre Amsallem, for Jewish worship, called for "a more peaceful world" and Pastor Titia Esbanti gently urged everyone "to build a livable country and a better world. Fraternity, it must be repeated like a litany, it is built together, it does not fall from the sky. Before making a wish for 2024: "The golden rule: do unto others what you would have them do for you".