Montreal, Canada—An evening of prayers and readings from the Bible and the Koran took place at the Église Sainte-Trinité in Vaudreuil-Dorion in Quebec on May 6, 2015. Priest Normand Bergeron and Dr. Najib Amine of the Association Musulmane Québécoise spoke about the readings. Pierre Beauregard of UPF-Canada offered a prayer.
The event, which was prepared by theologian Martin Bellerose, a researcher at the Centre Justice et Foi and an Ambassador for Peace, marked the conclusion of an awareness project on Islam organized by the Centre Justice et Foi and LaVoiEdesFemmes. From April 15 to May 6, a photo essay comprised of about twenty pictures, capturing men and women of the Muslim faith performing ordinary, daily activities was on display at the Église Saite-Trinité to help people transcend any preconceptions they might have about Muslims.
All the participants were inspired by the result of the project, which stimulated many responses from Priest Normand Bergeron’s parish and the local Muslim community. Although some people in both faith communities have been apprehensive about initiating reconciliations, a group of Christians and Muslims have done so, giving them great hope for reconciliation between the two religious traditions from the same God of Abraham.
When Dr. Amin prepared to speak, he put the text he had written aside to share spontaneous inspiration, and said that if people read the Koran and the Bible, they will find more similarities than differences between the two faiths.