Café Theology opens minds and hearts
Local
For the fourth year running, Café Theology is providing Nazareth Catholic College staff and Hindmarsh-Findon parishioners with an opportunity to explore the Catholic faith in a different context.
The optional program, which is in its fourth year, is held out of school hours across the college’s three campuses.
An average of 30 staff participates each year along with a number of parishioners.
“It started with staff sharing stories about some of their favourite theologians and spiritual directors,” said Christian Martino, Nazareth’s R-12 assistant principal, Religious Identity and Mission.
“It’s a great opportunity to tap into some of the resources we have around South Australia; priests and people from other faiths who might be interested in presenting, fresh perspectives and voices we maybe haven’t heard from before.”
The initiative has been a resounding success and has helped bridge the gap between school and parish.
“We’ve branched out across our community because we’re really considerate of the fact that we’re a Catholic school, but we work in an extremely diverse community and people come from all sorts of different traditions,” Mr Martino said.
“We’re all in this place together so we think it’s well worth bringing lots of different voices and perspectives to the conversation.”
Topics covered in the 2023 program were inspired by themes from the Archdiocese of Adelaide’s Diocesan Report to the Synod of Bishops. Sessions included ‘Supporting staff and students with sexuality, identity and gender’ facilitated by Fr Maurice Shinnick; ‘Inter-Faith Dialogue’ facilitated by Fr Michael Trainor; and ‘The Role of Women in the Church’
facilitated by Val de Brenni.
The 2024 program focussed on ‘Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Dialogue’ with sessions including ‘Orthodox-Christian Dialogue’ held by Rev Fr Michael Psaromatis from Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, Norwood; Jewish-Christian Dialogue’ facilitated by Rachel Gillespie, director of the Abraham Institute; and ‘Muslim-Christian Dialogue’ facilitated by Faisal Bin Badar, from The Abraham Institute.
“I presented Islam as a religion in the Teachers PD,” Mr Bin Badar said. “I discussed the Islamic beliefs, rituals and practices, history (including the golden Islamic era) and how Islam is not just a collection of rituals but a complete code of life that provides a system of individual and collective ways living.”
Mr Bin Badar believes the programs open a direct channel for receiving authentic information without media manipulation.
“I initially conducted a quiz at the beginning of the session, where I asked for some basic facts. The ratio of correct answers was around
50 per cent which shows the information gap within the participants,” he said.
“These sessions can help them equip themselves with correct and in-depth knowledge.” Mr Bin Badar also presented a section on debunking myths about Islam. “There should be more such sessions where participants come with an open mind to listen to factual information. This will increase respect in society and tolerance among people from various beliefs and backgrounds.”
Rachel Gillespie gave staff members a basic overview of Judaism.
“I hope participants left with a better understanding of Judaism and had any questions answered,” Ms Gillespie said. “I also hope that I sparked interest in them to learn more. I’m very lucky to have a job that affords me the opportunity to talk about one of my favourite subjects on a regular basis. It’s a beautiful tradition and I love for people to learn more about it.”
She said programs that promote dialogue and understanding are necessary to combat fear of ‘the other’.
“Right now, it’s particularly vital,” she said.
“The war in Gaza has led to a rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobia. It’s important to counter that with education that shows the beauty and basic teachings of both traditions. We work with many students at quite a number of Catholic schools and talk to them about Judaism and Islam so the teachers learn what the students are learning. In Cafe Theology, however, the participants have the opportunity to do a deeper dive and ask more probing questions, without the constraints of supervising students concurrently. I’d like to congratulate Nazareth Catholic College on this initiative and encourage other schools to implement similar programs for their staff.”
Nazareth Catholic College teacher Grace Gava was among the attendees.
“Throughout these sessions, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn firsthand from experts in their field, thus allowing me to have further insight into modern day challenges or topics within the church,” Miss Gava said.
“This year, the focus was on interreligious dialogue, which is so prevalent and important within our multicultural society. Last year’s topic ‘Women in the Church’ was also very relevant and as a female in the Church, it was empowering to learn all those who devoted their life for the greater good and how perhaps the role of women in the Church can evolve in the future.
“Overall, the content was very informative and relevant and there were lots of key takeaways I can apply in both my professional and personal life.”
Jump to next article
