WASHINGTON (OSV News) ─ A Catholic pastor in Washington who hosted an interfaith peace meal for Jews, Muslims and Christians said he "felt called to do something" as the U.S. and Israel-Iran war rages on and the violence spreads elsewhere in the Middle East.
"I felt called … to celebrate our oneness in faith, going back to Abraham," said Father David Bava, pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Washington, as the evening gathering March 26 opened in the parish's lower church hall, attended by about 60 people from those three faith traditions.
The priest read words recited by Pope Francis during the pontiff's 2021 trip to Iraq, as he visited Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, who is regarded as a common father in faith for Jews, Muslims and Christians: "It is fitting that we come together here, back to our origins, to the sources of God's work, to the birth of our religions, to pray together for peace as children of Abraham."
Father Bava then said, "This meal is held in that same spirit."
Titled "Celebration at the Table of Abraham," the event featured readings from the Book of Genesis and the Quran about Abraham and Sarah welcoming three strangers and offering them a meal in their tent.
The peace meal at Holy Redeemer included Matzo ball soup, flatbread, lamb, baked whiting fish, spinach quiche and vegetables, followed by dessert. As they ate, the participants had time for fellowship to talk with one another.
"We come to this table as Abraham's children ─ Jewish, Muslim, Catholic ─ to offer one another that same welcome," Father Bava told attendees. "We do not erase our differences. We bring them as gifts. We come to learn from one another, and to share what is most precious to us: the faith that God is one, that God is merciful, and that God desires peace among all peoples."
He noted the confluence of three holy seasons for those faith traditions ─ that Muslims had just commemorated Ramadan and the next week would mark Passover for Jews and Holy Week and Easter for Christians.
As he explained the spirit of the gathering, Father Bava noted that the Second Vatican Council's landmark 1965 Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, "Nostra Aetate" ("In Our Time"), "called Catholics to recognize that Jews, Christians and Muslims all belong to what can be called the tradition of Abraham."
Father Bava said that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs has built on that document's foundation for decades, "affirming that our shared work for peace, justice and the common good is not despite our differences, but through our shared roots."
He said the meal was especially timely with what "our brothers and sisters are experiencing in the Middle East, in the world and in our society."
The readings and format for the gathering were drawn from USCCB resources, Vatican II documents and the interreligious witness of recent popes.
After a candle was lit, representatives of the three faiths read passages from their sacred books. Daniel Spiro, co-founder and president of the Jewish-Islamic Dialogue Society of Washington, read the words, "Blessed are You, Lord our God, who has brought us together in peace."
Father Bava noted that members of the faith groups were coming together "for this table of encounter and friendship."
Representatives of the three faith groups offered testimonies, including Scott Wright, a Holy Redeemer parishioner and a member of Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace movement.
Wright, a Pax Christi USA ambassador of peace, described traveling to the Middle East during Israel's war with Hamas, praying for peace at the border of Gaza and hearing the sounds of sirens and bombings, and packing food for families in Gaza.
Members of the delegation met with Israeli families whose loved ones had been killed by Hamas terrorists, and they met with Palestinian families whose loved ones had been killed by Israeli Defense Forces.
For the closing prayer at the interfaith gathering, participants recited a prayer that Pope Francis and religious leaders prayed together during that pope's visit to Ur in 2021, noting that Abraham is "our common father in faith" for Jews, Christians and Muslims. The prayer urged peace for victims of war and violence, encouraged care for the earth, and help for those "forced to leave behind their homes and lands."
After the prayer, Father Bava said, "We go from this table as pilgrims on the same road. We will walk it together."
Then the priest noted how St. Francis of Assisi in 1219 held a dialogue with a Muslim sultan in Egypt during the Crusades, and Holy Redeemer choir members led participants in singing the "Prayer of St. Francis," which includes the words, "Make me a channel of your peace."
Among those in attendance was Imam Talib M. Shareef, president of Masjid Muhammad Inc., the Nation's Mosque in Washington.
In an interview afterward with the Catholic Standard, the Archdiocese of Washington's news outlet, Imam Shareef said the gathering "represents a model for us to embrace our shared identity as humans and to value our intrinsic nature to live together intelligently and peacefully in the spirit of universal kinship."
Ahead of the dinner, Spiro also underscored the gathering's importance.
"Interfaith dialogue and engagement is one of the few antidotes we have to living in a world of hate, polarization and war," he told the Catholic Standard, adding that what's happening in the world today "is a complete breakdown of trust, and the sense that 'the other' is the true enemy."
"We have to change this dynamic. We can't unless we're willing to dialogue with each other and enter into conversations with people who don't share our views, and see their humanity," said Spiro, a retired U.S. Department of Justice attorney and a member of Washington's Hill Havurah Jewish congregation.
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Mark Zimmermann is editor of the Catholic Standard, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Washington. This story was originally published by the Catholic Standard and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.
