SYDNEY – While Islamic terrorist threats from al-Qaeda group is spreading worldwide, an inter-faith prayer for global peace and tolerance was held in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, April 1, in the presence of many people from different religious background.
The prayer was led by Australian Cardinal George Pell and a prominent Muslim cleric from the United States with hundreds of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus gathered at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a Muslim cleric from New York, told the gathering that in today's world people from all religious faiths, and even those with no religion, must talk and seek to understand their different points of view.
"O Almighty Creator, we call upon you to inspire all of us present to seek a deeper global commitment to world peace because in that commitment lies one of the purest paths to self-perfection and compassion and intimacy with you," he said.
New South Wales state Premier Bob Carr said the significance of the event.
"I think it's been important for Australians from non-Islamic backgrounds to hear him and to hear his perspectives," he said, "I think it's also important for our own Islamic community to hear from ... an American Muslim, speaking about the issues that confront the Islamic and non-Islamic world.”
