"What do we want tomorrow’s society to be like? Like a battlefield of opposing civilisations and religions or a space in which everyone may learn how to see each other as brothers and sisters before God?" This challenging question prompted the initiatives of Sri (National Service for Relations with Islam, promoted in 1974 by the French Bishops Conference), the last one starting today (until 10 July) in Orsay. A "session of training, not one of dialogue", specifies the director of Sri, father Christophe Roucou. "Getting to know and meeting Muslims" is the topic of the meeting, which, explains father Roucou, "is targeted to all those Christians who are challenged by Islam, in terms of religion and in terms of the Muslim presence in France". According to the Service manager, "they must be given elements and grounds to help them understand each other. Many Christians live in contact with Muslims: we give them some points of reference for cohabitation, for comparing their faiths, for a better understanding of Islam". Every day of the workshop will be divided into two parts. The mornings will be focussed on the teaching of different aspects of Islam (history, anthropology, currents), including an initiation to the Koran; the afternoons will be focussed on exchanges of personal experiences.
