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Students vow to be 'agents of peace'

Young people organize a series of activities focusing on an interfaith dialogue
Students vow to be 'agents of peace'
Participants at Oblate seminary in Yogyakarta
Published: July 05, 2011 05:49 AM GMT
Updated: July 05, 2011 05:56 AM GMT

Nineteen young Catholics, Muslims and Protestants in Yogyakarta have committed to be agents of peace by organizing various activities focusing on an interfaith dialogue. These activities would include visiting religious institutions, celebrating religious festivals, and organizing charity programs. “I am also planning to encourage my Muslim friends, particularly those with narrow views, to be more open to others,” said Astri Asih, a Muslim girl who studies at the Faculty of Biology at the Catholic University of Atma Jaya in Yogyakarta, after a peace building workshop. The workshop, organized by the Center for Church Development, finished on July 3 and was presented by Jesuit Father Adrianus Suyadi and Zuly Qodir, respectively director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and lecturer at the University of Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta. “A student staying in the nearest Islamic boarding school told me that mingling with other religious followers is easier than mingling with his fellow Muslims. So I am planning to do something for my university friends,” Ali Mustofa, a Muslim, said. The center’s director Jesuit Father Joannes de Brito Mardi Kartono said in a speech that the workshop aimed “to build the Kingdom of God, which means to create a condition in which love, peace and justice for all human beings can be found.”

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