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Catholics from St. Patrick's parish in Ravena and around the Diocese shared an evening meal with local Muslims toward the end of Ramadan, an Islamic month of fasting from sunrise to sunset.

The dinner, known as an iftar, was held at St. Patrick's and co-sponsored by the parish and Muslim members of the Turkish Cultural Center (TCC) in Menands. The cultural center previously held an iftar in a Buddhist temple and strives to participate in interfaith events with people of other religious traditions, but this was the first time in the Capital Region that an iftar was held in a Christian church.

The evening featured Turkish food, fellowship between Catholics and Muslims, presentations on Islam and time for Muslim attendees to do one of their five daily prayers. Rev. James Kane, pastor of St. Patrick's, gave an invocation before the meal and was honored for his role as director of the Albany diocesan Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

Father Kane said his parishioners were "intrigued" when they heard about the event.

"It's a wonderful thing that the Turkish community is reaching out," said Father Kane, who has attended Ramadan dinners at the TCC in the past. "We're very honored. Anything that can reduce ignorance is a wonderful thing. There would be almost no other opportunity where Turks and Christians from small communities can interact."

Misconceptions
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., Father Kane has led more than 30 presentations on the basics of Islam throughout the Albany Diocese. He still finds that people of other faiths incorrectly believe that "Allah is a false god, that Muslims do not worship the one true God, that all Muslims are terrorists.

"Ignorance breeds contempt, and contempt is never a good thing in interfaith relations," he stated.

Catholics from St. Patrick's told The Evangelist they weren't sure what to expect at the dinner, but walked away with new knowledge of and respect for Islam.

"This is absolutely brand new to me, and I was actually quite impressed," said Christine Irwin, volunteer secretary at the parish. "They were wonderful people - very kind, warm and open. I found our religions were very similar.

"We both believe in angels," she continued. "I felt that they held Mary in very high regard, even more so than we do. They also believe in the virgin birth."

Mrs. Irwin thought the food "would be very alien to my taste," but enjoyed the lentil salad, chicken and rice dish, baklava, Russian tea cakes and other offerings prepared by members of the TCC.

Finding friends
The dinner made her "more open to want to learn more about them," she said. "I was so glad I went and I think the people who didn't go missed out on something special."

Lori Nunziato, pastoral associate, agreed: "There's so much hatred in the world that to see two religious beliefs come together and have a meal together" was an honor. "Everyone meshed. [I learned] the importance of their prayer both before and after the meal [and] how they fast for so many hours. It made me feel important to be a part of such a wonderful experience. Coming from a small community, we do have diversification, but not an overabundance of it."

Pastoral council member Joan Lipscomb was impressed by her new friends' devotion. She compared Ramadan to the Christian period of Lent because of "how intense we become, how determined we become to make that journey.

"We try to turn our lives around and be more calm in dealing with people," Mrs. Lipscomb said.

As for the iftar in general, "I was spiritually delighted and I was just so happy that they chose us. It was an eye-opener for a lot of people."

Muslim reaction
TCC members pointed out that Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard previously received a peace award at the center's annual friendship dinner and award ceremony in May.

The TCC group was glad to make history with the dinner at St. Patrick's; they hope to hold an iftar at a Jewish synagogue next year, said Veysel Ucan, director of the center.

"The goal of the Turkish Cultural Center is to promote peace and understanding among people of different faiths and cultures," Mr. Ucan said. "Ramadan is a month of sharing, generosity, improving friendships with your relatives and neighbors. It's been a 1,000-year-old tradition that people invite each other for dinner.

"We wanted to do it in our friends' place of worship," he continued. "We're trying to build bridges of understanding. We are so happy that our friends opened their home, their worship place for us and they welcomed us. That's the way we create a peaceful society: We get rid of our misunderstandings, our prejudice."

At the Ravena dinner, Mr. Ucan sat next to Rick Lesser, a seminarian studying for the priesthood for the Albany Diocese. That struck a chord with the director, since he hopes to become a Muslim chaplain: "I learned how [someone becomes] a priest in the Catholic tradition. We talked about the importance of interfaith dialogue."

Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of Ramadan, at the end of July.[[In-content Ad]]

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