Dr Hassoun is one of my favourite people in the world, and someone I pray for every day. He made a deep impression on me the first time I met him. I see him as an archetypal spiritual leader. They say that ‘a fish rots from the head’, meaning that if the leader of an […]
Friends: Father Dave and Dr Hassoun – the Grand Mufti of Syria Read More »
What follows is an extract from a submission about religious freedom, submitted to the Australian Federal Parliament by my friend, Rev. Michael Palmer. The submission was based on what we saw and heard during our trip to Syria over New Year 2017. Father Dave ‘A Window into the Freedom of Religion in Syria: and implications
A Window into the Freedom of Religion in Syria and implications for Australia Read More »
Father Toufic, in my view, is an archetypal priest. As Parish Priest of St George’s Melkite church in Maaloula (Syria), he has pastored his parish through the worst possible crisis. Jabhat Al Nusra over-ran his town in 2013. Three years later, the signs of destruction are ever-present. St George’s church has been rebuilt but, as Father Toufic says,
He is one of my favourite people in the world, and I pray for him every day – Dr Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, the Grand Mufti of Syria. I don’t know any other religious leader in the world whose first words to me when he sees me are “I love you!” Even I don’t greet
Christians and Muslims can be friends – Father Dave & the Grand Mufti of Syria Read More »
It was my privilege to be asked to pay tribute to the noble Sheikh Nimr at the Islamic Centre in Banksia (Sydney) on January 9th, 2016, following his brutal (and largely unanticipated) beheading by the Saudis. I was then asked to repeat my speech at a rally in Martin Place (in the centre of Sydney)
Grieving the martyrdom of Sheikh Nimr Baquir al-Nimr Read More »
I hear this question asked a lot – not only by Christians but by Muslim friends as well: “Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?” The question made headlines late in 2015 when Wheaton College in Chicago suspended a professor of political science for publicly answering the question in the affirmative! The academic was
Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? Read More »