Events/resources - Course for Catholics working and living with Muslims

This is a free course with a small number of participants, and comes highly recommended - judging both from my own impressions, and from the feedback I have had so far from other participants, the course is stimulating, interesting, and above all eye-opening. A real help for practical engagements. All details, also on how to apply for a course, are below:

Understanding Islam – a course for Catholics living and working with Muslims.  This four-day course is held at Campion Hall, the Jesuit community in Oxford, and aims to help Catholics understand how their beliefs shape the world views of the Muslims they live and work with. Participants are encouraged to see the world through Muslim eyes, and are taken through a stimulating programme including sessions on Muhammad, Islamic beliefs, laws and prayer life. There are also opportunities to learn about Islamic perspectives on Christianity, developments in the modern Islamic world, and Islam in Britain. The course is a safe space for Catholics to discuss their attitudes and judgements, and to consider how to respond to the call of their bishops to dialogue with Islam. A maximum of 12 participants ensures that there is plenty of opportunity for discussion. The course is presented by Dr Damian Howard SJ, who is currently a lecturer at Heythrop College with a special academic interest in the Christian theological response to Islam, and the Reverend Dr David Marshall, who organises the “Building Bridges” Muslim-Christian dialogue programme, convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and supported by Georgetown University, and has taught courses on Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at several seminaries and universities, most recently Edinburgh. The course is conducted twice a year, with the next course taking place from 6^th to 9^th November 2012, and generous support from Georgetown University means that all participants have to fund is their travel to and from Oxford. If you are interested in participating, please write to Ms Katharina Muller (Katharina.muller@cbcew.org.uk), the interreligious adviser to the Bishops’ Conference, with your full name and a short paragraph on why you think that you would benefit from participating in the course by 31^st August.  As the course is expected to be oversubscribed, please do not make any travel arrangements until you have been notified as to whether you have secured a place, which will be by mid-September at the latest.