Latest News

Passover is a Jewish festival which celebrates when the Israelites were freed from slavery under the Egyptians.

It is always a spring festival, although the date in the Roman calendar changes slightly each year.

In the Hebrew calendar it is celebrated from the 15th through the 22nd of the month of Nissan.

The festival, known as Pesach in Hebrew, is thought to be named such as a reference to when God “passed over” the houses of the Hebrews during the last of the ten plagues recorded in the book of Exodus.

Read more >>

Source: Huffington Post

The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pakistani grand imam Maulana Khabir Azad are among 270 signatories of an interfaith climate change statement.

The statement outlines the positive judgement of the adopted Paris Agreement and urges for its prompt signature and ratification by governments.

The statement emphasises each person’s “moral responsibility” to care for our shared Earth.

Read more >>

Source: Climate Home

The Victorian Government is committed to preventing violent extremism by providing an effective, accessible and targeted grants programs to build social cohesion and resilience within communities across Victoria.

The Community Resilience Grants are now open and provide an opportunity for eligible community, not-for-profit, youth and peak body organisations to deliver innovative projects to address the underlying conditions of violent extremism.

More than 2000 Sikh members from Melbourne took to the streets of Dandenong to mark annual celebrations of Vaisakhi.

The procession commemorated the anniversary of the brotherhood of the Khalsa on April 13, 1699 – one of the most significant dates in Sikh history – as well as ushering in the spring.

The sound of drums filled the streets of Dandenong on Sunday as thousands of devout Sikhs took part in one of Melbourne’s biggest annual Nagar kirtan.

Traditional orange flags and outfits of the Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan brought a splash of colour to a grey Sunday afternoon in Melbourne.

Read more >>

Source: Singh Station

On Tuesday 29 March 2016, Australia’s first Royal Commission into Family Violence tabled its findings with a 1900 page report which includes 227 recommendations.

The report includes a ten-page section on 'Faith Communities', highlighting the important role faith-based communities and organisations can play in the lives of Victorians affected by family violence.

The report notes it is important that faith-based communities address barriers to the disclosure, prevention of, or recovery from family violence.

A leading professor of intercultural studies has praised the Bendigo Interfaith Council for taking a stand against racism and supporting the construction of a mosque in the city.

Desmond Cahill, professor of intercultural studies at Melbourne’s RMIT university, spoke at the inaugural Bendigo Interfaith Dinner. “I want to publicly congratulate all of you and your fellow citizens for the stand you have taken in supporting the building of the mosque, in resisting racism and bigotry (both of which lie deep in the Australian psyche) and in defending the principles of religious freedom and the separation of religion and state,” he said.

Read more >>

Source: Bendigo Advertiser

On 15 March 2016, the Victorian Government announced the opening of two new grant programs: the Community Harmony Program 2016-17 and the Capacity Building and Participation Program 2016-17.

Capacity Building and Participation Program: The Capacity Building and Participation Program is designed to build the knowledge and skills of multicultural communities across Victoria to fully participate and contribute to everyday life in Victoria. 

Community Harmony Program: The Community Harmony Program is designed to enable Victorians to build social cohesion and community harmony through preventative initiatives that address the root causes of social disharmony and racial, ethnic and religious intolerance.

A Mosque, like to a church, temple or any place of worship, is a sacred space for reflection and connection to faith.

The City of Casey is home to approximately 15,000 people who follow Islam and practice the Muslim faith.

They, along with any other religious groups in the community, are entitled to submit an application to build a place of worship.

People are also entitled to a view on any proposed development and the council has a process that can be followed for that view to be expressed.

Read more >>

Source: Leader