Asia

Photo : UCA News

Mar 20 (UCA News) : Catholic and Protestant youngsters joined an ecumenical retreat during Lent in northern Bangladesh with an aim to foster unity among Christians of various churches.

About 100 young Christians, mostly college and university students, from six denominations joined the program in Rajshahi city jointly organized by Rajshahi Diocese and the Church of Bangladesh on March 17, 2021.

The program at Caritas Rajshahi aimed to promote ecumenism and spiritual bonding among young Christians ahead of Easter Sunday.

Church officials said the event focused on making young men and women more aware about the importance of prayer, fasting and the resurrection of Jesus.

“We arranged it with the aim of uniting the youth of different churches and helping them to become more respectful to each other's religious principles. We have also wanted to make them more comfortable in the presence of each other,” Father Patrick Gomes, secretary of the Catholic bishops’ Commission for Christian Unity and Inter-Religious Dialogue, told UCA News.

Pastor Daniel Mondol, head of Rajshahi Church of Bangladesh, said that unity and collaboration among Christians were essential for the survival and prosperity of Christians in the country.

Bangladesh's Christians are a tiny minority: less than half a percent of 160 million people in the Muslim-majority country. Of an estimated 600,000 Christians, the majority, about 400,000, are Catholics spread in two archdioceses and six dioceses.

There are two major coalitions of Protestant churches. The National Council of Churches in Bangladesh (NCCB) has 15 members while the National Fellowship of Churches, Bangladesh (NFCB) has 19 member churches.

Since the late 1960s, following the Second Vatican Council, the country’s bishops have promoted interreligious dialogue and ecumenism through the Commission for Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh and the Protestant fellowships in 2011 formed the United Forum of Churches in Bangladesh (UFCB), which draws representatives from all member associations.

The UFCB arranges ecumenical programs including dialogues, seminars and common religious feasts with an aim to promote unity.

Source : UCA News