Interfaith Peace Symposium

"Empowerment of Women in Christianity" by Sr Colleen Foley osu

On 14th April 2018 I had the honour of speaking at an “Interfaith Peace Symposium” at one of the local mosques in Plumpton. The invitation, through my parish, was for a woman to speak on “The Empowerment of Women from a Christian Perspective”.

The panel comprised of nine women who spoke from different faiths, namely Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and Buddhism. The national president of the Amadiyya Muslim Association of Australia also spoke together with representatives from local government and the police

Representing the members of the Catholic Faith my focus was obviously from a Christian perspective. It was both a delight and an honour to accept the opportunity to share this perspective. Given the constraints of time for the talk I needed to express the real essence of what I had to say in few words. However I had a strong sense of the Holy Spirit guiding me throughout my talk.

The friendliness, beauty and grace of the Muslim women was outstanding. Sitting at tables of eight or ten women we were provided with a delicious dinner which was enhanced by the lively friendly atmosphere.

I really enjoyed my research for this talk and it was a delight to have this opportunity. I am grateful to Sr Leone Pallisier osu for attending the Symposium and sharing this significant event with me.

 Sr Colleen's Talk - "Empowerment of Women in Christianity"