29.05.2026
Climate Crisis, Racism and Sanctuary – The Importance of Interfaith Friendship
Dialogue of Friendship: Faithfully Caring for Creation.
Interfaith perspectives on care for our planet and each other flowed through a day of learning and connection at the Dialogue of Friendship event which took place in Dundrum Methodist Church earlier this month. Organised by the Church of Ireland Interfaith Working Group and the Sanctuary in Faith stream of Places of Sanctuary Ireland, this year’s event explored the theme ‘Faithfully Caring for Creation’.
With Dean Abigail Sines at the helm, Dialogue of Friendship drew people from diverse faith backgrounds together to hear and learn from speakers but also to exchange ideas and build relationships. As the Archbishop of Dublin put it: “Our witness today in the suburbs of South Dublin is vital as a catalyst for change of heart, change of mind and change of spirit. Attentive listening is the greatest affront to megaphone diplomacy. Let us use it”.
The keynote speaker was the Revd David Coleman, Environmental Chaplain for Eco Congregation Scotland, seconded from the United Reformed Church. Responding to his address was Dr Raja Harun MBE, a Malaysian plant scientist living in Belfast who serves on the Board of Trustees for the Belfast Islamic Centre.
In the afternoon the conversation turned to sanctuary. Adrian Cristea, Executive Officer of Dublin City Interfaith Forum spoke about the Safe Haven initiative. Dr Manizha Khan, formerly Dean of the University of Herat Dental School in Afghanistan shared her moving sanctuary story of fleeing her home following the fall of Kabul in 2021 and her work with the Sanctuary movement in Ireland.
Setting the Stage
Archbishop Michael Jackson set the stage for the day’s discussions. He observed that all three Abrahamic Faiths need one another in the contemporary world.
“Our relationships are under the most intense of strain and there is no sign of any of this easing. Their traditions not only have prayer, almsgiving and fasting in common; they also have witness and martyrdom, whether that be holy living or holy dying or indeed both. It is into this chilling reality of shared experience, both historical and contemporary, that the key themes of today’s Conference feed and flow: Stewardship, Sanctuary and Safe Haven: stewardship of the earth, its resources and future prospects; sanctuary for those harassed and dispossessed of dignity, rights and humanity itself in the political cauldron of the world; Safe Haven as a way not only of making Dublin a place of secular peacefulness but of enabling Inter Faith Dialogue and Faith Identity be a positive resource in building capacity for a just and diverse society,” he said.
Care of the Earth as an Interfaith Goal
‘Earth as the mediator of friendship for people across faith communities’ was the focus of the Revd David Coleman’s address. He observed that care of the Earth is a feature across faith traditions and environmentally positive public outreach can see faith communities enriched and deepened.
He suggested that the joy of being together as interfaith communities was beyond any “interfaith cuddliness”, but was in something real about our identities being seen and valued, strengthening our commitment to our own faith. In local faith groups he had seen communities enriched and deepened by shared litter picks, beach cleans, food banks, clothes swaps and the environmentally positive public outreach associated with people of faith. “None of these actions have rigid borders. But they still feed faith,” he said.
“In our particularity, we also have much in common. I hope that’s cause for rejoicing. We share, as Pope Francis observed, a “casa comune”: a common home,” he said. He pointed to the commonalities among faith traditions in caring for the Earth and said that the ideal is to make the most of the real spiritual gifts we are given in an “eyes wide open” response to the climate crisis today.
But he urged those present to “look for green faith with teeth” so that we can share something “a bit spikier that is a blessing to the whole of humanity”. He encouraged radical inclusion of all creation – “we are the creation, we are the biodiversity that we protect or destroy”.
Reflecting on friendship Mr Coleman said that is the task of friends to question what is and is not necessary to faith identity. Within interfaith communities, he suggested asking friends if their faith’s message on creation is urgent enough. He urged those present to show love and determination to detach climate denial from faith identities.
“In the accelerating crisis of nature and climate, friendship is urgent. No one can aspire to be a friend of anyone, if they hide, deny or ignore those signs of the times [Matthew 24: 3–31] in the skies and the Earth [Luke 21: 25–26] which are beyond reasonable doubt, and which have already locked in, for several human generations, a multiplication of threat. Today, it’s not friendly to whisper or preach the white lie that everything’s going to be all right,” he stated.
He continued that it was urgent that we practice the discipline of the truth in love because as weather extremes continue to get worse everything that divides us will feel sharper. “These are our choices, our possibilities, our spiritual and practical challenges,” he stated. He encouraged ‘friendship’ with the natural environment rather than ‘stewardship’.
Al Mizan: An Islamic Perspective
In response, Dr Raja Harun explored Al Mizan – a covenant for the Earth which he explained is an Islamic outlook on the environment and actions to combat the current planetary crisis. It was produced at the eighth Islamic Conference in 2019. Al Mizan means balance in Arabic and Dr Harun said it links environmental ideas with Islamic teaching to demonstrate how Islam can be a driving force for sustainability.
“Al Mizan is a binary inclusive document that, while rooted in Islamic teaching, serves as a global call to action for all faiths and none. It frames environmental protection as a call to all humanity to protect our common home,” he explained.
Al Mizan identifies that the main cause of the problems in the world is the prioritisation of economic growth. Dr Harun cited many reminders in the Quran that man loves wealth but that Earth was created in balance to sustain mankind and all living creatures. He added that there has to be justice for all living creatures and mankind is to steward the earth not exploit it.
“God will not change the condition of the people until they change themselves. We have to decide to do something about the state of the world today. We have to right what is wrong. As inhabitants of the world it is expected of our faith that we do the right thing,” he commented.
He said that Al Mizan points the way forward for Muslims and for the world at large which is to recognise that all things on Earth support each other and must keep from wreaking devastation on it. There is an action plan for individuals, communities and governments.
Safe Haven
Adrian Cristea gave the background to the Safe Haven initiative. “Racism may seem a recent thing but it is not new. It has been there all along over the last three and a half decades. As Ireland became more diverse racism raised its ugly head. We realised there was a need to do something more than just listen,” he stated.
Working with religious leaders, civil society, community groups and State bodies, participants in the Safe Haven programme learn what racism is, what it does and the impact on the whole community as well as the individual. “We know how profound the impact of hate crime is. Hate crimes are message or signal crimes between groups. Often members of the group respond as if it was done to them. So it has a harmful effect on communities and creates tension and leaves other minority groups feeling vulnerable,” he explained.
Recognising that it is not easy for a victim to report hate crime, DCIF understands that people often find it easier to talk to people they trust, like their religious leaders. Mr Cristea said reporting hate crime is important so that the depth of the problem can be measured. They use the reporting mechanism developed by the Irish Network Against Racism (ireport.ie) and any person who has experienced racism or any form of hate incident, or any person who has witnessed it, can report through Safe Haven.
A Sanctuary Story
Dr Manizha Khan is a Sanctuary Ambassador. She told her remarkable story of her escape from Afghanistan after the return to power of the Taliban. She had been Dean of a dental school but she said that education and women are seen as threats. She had never been political but she had no choice other than to leave, describing her difficult wait as she was not one of the groups prioritised for evacuation.
Dr Khan has been a refugee twice – the first time as a child when Russia took over Afghanistan and her family fled to Pakistan. “The first time saved me to be a refugee a second time,” she said before sharing the remarkable story of how she became a pen pal of a girl in New Zealand through the Red Cross when she was a refugee as a child.
In 2021 her pen pal messaged to say she was worried about her. She had a network of people praying for Manizha and also contacted people in New Zealand and Australia. Eventually, a connection was made in Ireland which she stated “was the only country that didn’t hold my education against me. They could use my skills. It is all due to [my pen pal] in New Zealand – otherwise I would still be in Afghanistan”.
When she got to Ireland, Manizha realised the reality of what she had become – a refugee who was expected to forget who she was. She and her husband and their daughter had to start from zero. “I didn’t realise that zero would be so low,” she said starkly. “I made a mission that no matter what else, I have to find myself, my daughter, my husband a place in society where I can offer tea,” she said explaining that Afghans are very hospitable. “When people say you are ‘just a refugee’ they miss everything. Refugees bring experience, degrees, life experience. They are people just like you.”
As programme refugees, the family had support. Her sponsorship group gathered around and helped them get their papers – both she and her husband are dentists and it took them one and a half years to pass their dental exams.
Sadly, she said that before she came to Ireland she did not know about racism. She loved exploring Ireland but when the protests started she became scared. She does not walk in Dublin any more and in her mind she is calculating what to say if confronted. “I find myself thinking about this all the time. If you think these protests are not having a negative effect – they are having a negative effect. Now people are saying Ireland is full. That has changed the language. People are afraid and people are using different language,” she concluded.
Ade from Nigeria and Liz from South Africa both shared their experiences of arriving in Ireland. They are both Sanctuary Ambassadors and spoke of the joy and connections that belonging to the organisation and working in schools has brought them.
Refugee Week
Refugee Week runs from June 15 to 21 2026. The theme this year is ‘Courage’ and there are many suggestions and free digital resources, including graphics for print and social media and a film festival for streaming during the week. See https://refugeeweek.org.uk/ and https://refugeeweek.ie for details. Sanctuary Sunday is on June 21 and prayers and resources for churches are available at https://churchofsanctuary.org/sanctuary-church-sunday/
