UCD celebrates religions on campus

Chaplains and Catholic students at University College Dublin (UCD) celebrated International Week last Monday evening with people of the many religions on campus.  

Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahai's, and agnostics attended the celebration of religions on campus at St. Stephen's chaplaincy.  In the UCD campus of 24,000, there are over 5,000 international students.

“Given that it was international week I felt we should also celebrate religious diversity.  Moslem is the largest group after Christians,” one of the chaplains, Fr Leon O'Giollan (pictured), told ciNews.

In an atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation, a representative from each religious group present spoke briefly on the essence of their belief.  There were many points in common, such as acknowledgement of a transcendent reality, the link between behaviour on earth and the afterlife, values such as love, justice, peace, concern for the poor, the unity of all peoples, and prayer.

The twenty or so participants were very pleased with the meeting and want a follow-up.

“People were really enthusiastic, they want to meet again.  One of the Bahai's suggested we might have a kind of devotion that we take a reading from each of our holy books like the bible the Koran for the next meeting,” said Fr Leon.

by Ann Marie Foley