A warm welcome this month to James Holland as he takes up the post of Westminster Interfaith Co-ordinator. The work of inter-religious dialogue is intimately connected to work for justice and peace so we look forward to working closely together in the months to come.

James writes:

Hello! My name is James, and I have recently taken over from Jon Dal Din as the Coordinator of Westminster Interfaith. I’m delighted to have been appointed and I am very much looking forward to meeting some of you in the coming months.

Before joining Westminster Interfaith, I worked for 3 years as Lay Chaplain at St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College, in North Kensington. My diocesan email is jamesholland@rcdow.org.uk – please do get in touch, even if it is just to say hello!

At time of writing, it is the end of Interfaith Week, and I spent yesterday at a Parliamentary event with the All Faiths Network. Here, the most moving testament to the importance of dialogue was the warmth with which the Muslim representative spoke about the Rabbi, who this year hosted an Iftar in his synagogue.

In a world where we are so often defined in opposition to one another, this subtle embrace was more powerful than any of the other words spoken. As Catholics, we have a role in this conflict, and that is to pray for peace and to promote dialogue. Echoing the words from our fellow Christians at Evensong, we might pray:

Give peace in our time, O Lord,
for there is none other that fights for us, but you, O God. Amen

You can also read the Advent Message from Fr Dominic Robinson SJ