The following is part of an open session of a four-day conference organized by the Focolare Movement, entitled: ‘Together to give hope. Christians and Muslims on march with the charisma of unity.’

This session was attended by numerous leaders and promoters of dialogue between Christians and Muslims in 21 April 2018. The first and last questions were addressed to Dr Shomali and the two middle questions were addressed to Dr Coda.

Dr Shomali met the Focolare movement many years ago in England. Both sides have led many groups of students to Italy and the city of Qum in Iran for a better understanding of Christianity and Islam. For the last three years in the context of an itinerary of dialogue, a cultural exchange was born between Prof Shomali and Prof Coda and their students at the University of Sophia (Loppiano – Italy), and the name of this initiative is ‘Wings of Unity’.

Dr Shomali said: “We kept in touch bringing many groups of students from the Seminaries in Qum to Italy to know more about the Roman Catholic Church and visited many other Christian organizations. We had Catholic/Shi‘a rounds of talks.”

Source: Islam Today Magazine