Le Groupe des Deux Rives (The Two Shores Group) met by video conference for the second time. It was on 27-29 December. The participants shared aspects of their apostolic life and observations on society, the Church, Muslim communities... where they are or where they have been on mission. Maybe, we could share some interesting aspects on the Holy See, Algeria, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates after our exchanges:

From the perspective of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, we are reminded the need not to ignore the situation of Christians and local Churches in countries with a Muslim majority when it comes to dialogue with Islamic entities, especially when they have links with governments.

The insights into society and the Church both in Algeria and in Turkey, show a greater diversity in society from a religious point of view, closely linked to the lack of confidence in politics: more young people do no longer present themselves as Muslims, but as agnostics, indifferent or even atheists; while a minority show interest in Christianity, in Turkey, even in the Society of Jesus. In this country notion of “inter-religious dialogue” is avoided on the public arena since the 2016 coup d’état as it is too closely linked to Fetullah Gülen’s movement.

The relation between religion and politics is also under discussion at the United Arab Emirates: that showed the Forum to Promote Peace in Muslim Societies, whose topic for discussion was the notion of inclusive citizenship, so moving from coexistence to shared awareness through tolerance, a project contrary to the one of political Islam.

We hope that next year we will be able to meet face-to-face, spend time together and make visits to interesting people in one of our mission locations.