Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lahore (Fides Service) – Interreligious dialogue travels also via female sensitivity: with an unprecedented initiative, news of which reached Fides Service, a recent study Seminar on the conditions of women in Pakistan brought together more than 200 Christian and Muslim women in a Kasur, south of Lahore. The objective of the meeting, organised for the end of Ramadan by the Interreligious Dialogue Commission of Lahore, was to share ideas on the role of women in society.
We were informed by a report sent to Fides that the participants increased their reciprocal knowledge, shared open comparison of ideas, discussed conditions of women, bringing their different views on the basis of the principles of Islam and Christianity.
During the debate a Muslim business women Sayeda Nelofar Mehdi said: “I know about the life of Jesus and Mary, the Bible and the life of Sisters. I would not be a good Muslim if I did not know about Jesus of Nazareth. Although we belong to different religions we are one nation, Pakistan. I appreciate the life and the work of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who devoted herself to alleviating the sufferings of the people. Helping Hindus, Muslims and Christians”. With regard to women in Pakistan, Sayeda said “many women have contributed to the civil life of the country. Pakistani women are becoming more self confident and they are beginning to be active in all sectors of social life”.
Rev. Father Francis Nadeem, of the Interreligious Dialogue Commission, underlined the contribution offered by Christian women and religious to the people of Pakistan, particularly in the fields of health care and education.. He recalled the Sisters of Mother Teresa (Missionaries of Charity) “working in Pakistan to assist everyone, regardless of their religion”. Pakistani Sister Seraphine, a Missionary of Charity, shared her experience of assisting the poor and terminally ill in the five homes run by Mother Teresa’s Sisters in Pakistan.
Nazi Shoukat, another Muslim woman, spoke of the activity of women in NGOs working in the country at the social level like the “Sudhar Foundation”, which works among street children and orphans and in hospitals.
By way of conclusion Father Inayat Bernard, one of the organisers of the meeting told Fides “Women are an important part of the country, they have influence on the lives of the nation’s children and they have a responsibility to build a more just and peaceful society”
(PA) (Fides Service 28/11/2003 Lines: 40 Words: 387)
