Senator Calls for Dialogue and Reconciliation Amongst Religions

March 8, 2004

Source: Western Catholic Reporter

http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2004/0308/roche030804.shtml

On March 8, 2004 the Western Catholic Reporter ran an excerpt from a talk by Senator Douglas Roche to the Canadian Egyptian Society of Edmonton and the Canadian Arab Professional and Business Club on Feb. 7, in which he said, "My message to you tonight is that all of us - Muslim, Christian, Jew and beyond - must reach out in dialogue and reconciliation in these new and dangerous times. That is the only way to lasting peace. A few days after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, I was invited to a Muslim prayer service in the El Rashid Mosque in Edmonton. I joined a number of Christians and Jews to pray for peace alongside our Muslim neighbours. I was greatly moved by the occasion. The Muslim assembly felt a backlash against them because the suicide terrorists were young Muslim men. It was evident that the assembly was struggling with finding ways to show our whole community that those present were good citizens who abhor violence of any kind."