Before I continue I have to clear up an error. I mentioned in an earlier post about being able to hear the foghorns of the ships waiting for the canal. Yes, they can be heard, but, apparently, most of what sounds like foghorns are actually the horns of the huge lorries on the motorway - when they explained that to me I suddenly noticed that there wasn't any fog!!!
Today was a special day for peace, called for by the Pope. Here, they organised and inter-faith gathering in the Universidad Catolica Santa Maria la Antigua (USMA). Religious leaders from all the monotheistic religions in Panama took part (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, and Evangelical Christians; Jews; and Muslims).
The University itself was quite an impressive place. Very modern installations and seems to be very well maintained. The event went off well - each of the leaders spoke (except for the Iman who got somebody else to speak for him - it wasn't explained why). The one who stood out was definitely the Rabbi who made some very poignant remarks about the suffering of people in Syria and Iraq, drawing parallels between it and the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust.
During the gathering the religious leaders, on behalf of their respective congregations, all signed a very strongly worded letter which unequivocally condemns all types of violence perpetrated in the name of religion. This letter was distributed to the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Panama who were in attendance and will be sent to a number of world leaders and institutions including the UN and the EU.
I include two photos of the event below. These are very poor quality photos - I apologise for that but they were taken with my phone and, no matter what they would have you believe, you cannot take the same quality of picture with a phone as you can with a camera. In one of them, if you can make him out, you will see the Rabbi addressing the gathering and, in the other, there is a photo of some of the religious leaders. . The President of the Evangelical Pastors' group standing to the left of the Muslim Iman; to his right are two Roman Catholic bishops; and to their right is the Rector of the University (they call him the Magnificent Rector!!!). The two bishops are actually both Augustinians. The one on the left is the Archbishop of Panama and the President of the Episcopal Conference. The other one is the bishop of Colón, and was only ordained a bishop last Saturday.
It was actually a very positive event attende by lots of young people which is, for obvious reasons, very encouraging. It was also encouraging to see that the religious leaders seem to know each other well - they greeted each other with genuine warmth and chatted away like friends (one of the reasons the whole thing started 40 minutes late).
On a less global, but for me not less significant level, today they fixed the air conditioning in my room. It's wonderful. I am now able to type this without a towel under my hand on the keyboard. I know it won't do anything for world peace but it has certainly given me peace of mind.
Today I also met a number of the Augustinians working here in Panama and they have invited me to spend time with them in their various houses, including the mission they have among the indigenous peoples in a place called Tolé. That certainly gives me something to look forward to but I will stay put for this weekend as I have too much stuff to get ready for class on Monday. Hopefully, I won't have to worry about that again as, as far as I can judge, I actually have more than enough work done in preparation so I should be grand. It will be a great opportunity to see a little of the country, and also to get a change from the atmosphere of the seminary - as a member of a religious order I never lived in a seminary, we always live in a community which has a very different atmosphere - I'm not sure that seminary life would have appealed to me as a student.
From next week I will also begin to spend some time with the Augustinians in Panama City and will be able to help out a little in the parish they take care of.
The other thing that I'm learning here is that Viber and Whatsapp (they are two apps on your phone for those who aren't in the know) are very effective ways of communicating with home, and they are free so long as both parties are in a WIFI area. For the rest, they have advised me to buy a cheap mobile phone as once I get involved in the parish I will need to be contactable.
That's all for now - feel free to leave a comment. And here goes with the two awful photos
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