Sifco members visit Roman Catholic cathedral |17 February 2023

Members of the Seychelles Interfaith Council (Sifco) management committee yesterday conducted a visit to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Victoria.

This forms part of the Constitution of Sifco to get to know other faiths/groups in Seychelles and that was planned as part of the Interfaith Harmony week activities.

Sifco has already visited the Islamic Mosque, the Hindu Temple and the Brahma Kumaris Centre.

The visit yesterday consisted of a small chat with Bishop Alain Harel who welcomed all the guests in the meeting room of l’Eveché and explained the different offices that are seated at the l’Eveché.

He encouraged Sifco for its ongoing work and also to keep exchanging views even if the belief is different.

Father Eric Léon, the vice-chair of Sifco, in his welcoming note, shared that the aim of Sifco is to be together and learn more about the elements that unite us and be a testimony that we can be together.

This was followed by a visit to the Archives of the Cathedral which was quite impressive. This archives’ first document is dated 1793 and is being managed by three staff. It also holds data from 1800 about marriages/births/ deaths etc.

“Such dialogues have been happening in the past where four Faiths gave an overview of their beliefs. This exercise is mostly to get to know more about each other’s Faith and also to understand what is creating the division. Sifco believes that it is important to understand each other and to have tolerance,” explained the public relations officer of Sifco, Marion Gendron.

She said the visit yesterday at the Cathedral was to show support towards the Catholic Church and also to see the renovation done after the acts of vandalism that happened last year. “Everybody knows the Cathedral but they do not know how beautiful this place is. So today we also had the opportunity to visit the various places within the Cathedral. In Seychelles, we all know that all religions should come together to work as team in order to combat the ills of society,” she noted.

“For inter-religious dialogue to be effective, we need to progress beyond mere tolerance to mutual respect and friendship in the grassroot. We need to focus on what unites rather than divides us. This then enhances cooperation and unity among different Faiths in order to rebuild the moral foundations of society as a whole,” shared Mrs Gendron.

The representatives from Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Zoroastrian Society, Brahma Kumaris, Hindu Council, the Baha’i Faith, the Orthodox Church, Seychelles Evangelical Association and Islamic Council participated in the programme.

The day ended with a lunch.

Vidya Gappy

Photos: Joena Meme