BY RICK PUSIAK
As the world holds its breath and waits to see what evolves on the battle fields of Iraq, an effort is being made in Sudbury to reflect on prayer, cultural co-operation and the sanctity of life.
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A spokesperson for the Islamic community, Dr. Shah Nawaz, said an inter-faith prayer session might be planned for the near future.
Regular prayers are held every Friday at noon in the mosque in New Sudbury.
Â?We have prayers and we refer to people who are suffering around the world and pray for their souls,Â? said Nawaz.
Â?Everybody is praying around the world and we are part of that.Â?
Nawaz said he supports Prime Minister Jean ChretienÂ?s stand on withholding support for the American and British-led invasion of Iraq until a UN resolution is passed backing military action.
Â?This is a global problem, it should be approached multilaterally by all nations,Â? said Nawaz.
Bishop Jack Peck at the Church of the Epiphany in downtown Sudbury has been talking about the war in his sermons.
Special prayers were offered over the weekend and he is encouraging individual reflection.
Â?I think the main message is that our own government has taken a particular stand and I respect that stand,Â? said Peck.
Â?We need to pray for all the people involved, the military on all sidesÂ?the people of Iraq. (We pray) since the war is on that it will be short and loss of life will be kept to the smallest minimum possible.Â?
Roman Catholic Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe also joined in prayers for a swift solution to the conflict.
His spokesperson, Diocesan Chancellor Rev. Anthony Man-Son-Hing, offers a few words on behalf of the bishop. The bishop is encouraging Catholics and people of goodwill to join him in asking God to guide the deliberations of those who will make the difficult decisions that are necessary Â?so that peace may be restored to our troubled world.Â?
The Roman Catholic Church has a social justice arm called Development and Peace that raises money for causes around the world including the construction of schools and potable drinking water.
The church adjunct has organized a series of prayer vigils over the last few weeks overseen in this country by the Canadian Conference of Bishops.
Such a vigil was held last Friday night at St. PatrickÂ?s Church on Walford Road.
The pastor at Christ the King Church, one of SudburyÂ?s largest Catholic communities, Rev. John Caswell, told Northern Life war should never be an alternative if there is some other way to get around a conflict.
Â?We have really been conditioned by the media on what the whole (war) situation is,Â? said Caswell.
Â?If itÂ?s going to cause the disintegration of the purpose for the United Nations, or ruin NATO, if itÂ?s going to do that, then weÂ?re in bad shape.Â?
Caswell said global terrorism has been prompted by systemic causes that have not been dealt with.
Â?Why are those people terrorizing North America,Â? said Caswell. Â?Because maybe North America has not lived up to its obligations to the people of (less fortunate) countries.Â?
