On 24thJanuary 2019 we celebrated World Religion Dayat IES Guadalquivir in Spain.
The celebration of this International Day was included in our Erasmus + project as pupils considered having a different religion as one of the main causes for social exclusion.
Since 1950, the United Nations has chosen this date to raise awareness that:
- no conflict should happen due to different religious beliefs
- the importance of religion as part of a person’s identity
- the freedom of culture is a right included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also a guarantee in the EU.
The aims of our celebration were to generate a spirit of unity and tolerance and allow pupils to discover that all religions pursue world peace and justice but from different religious perspectives.
At IES Guadalquivir in Spain, our preparatory work for the celebration of this international day began with pupils investigating which were the main religions in Europe, what were their symbols, what were their main features and what were their liturgies.
We also worked with the U2 song “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” and we finally watched the BBC documentary “My life, my religion,” which explored Islam.
During the event directed by the Religion teachers in our school, the following representatives from the three main religions in Córdoba explained the common points and differences about their religions:
- Kamel Mekhelef: President of the Local Muslim Association
- Miguel David Pozo León: Local priest
- Eduardo De la Piedra: Evangelist pastor
These representatives talked about the central idea of their religions and their main liturgies.
Then, pupils read inspirational sentences taken from holy books such us the Bible or Quran. We finished with a question and answer session in which pupils clearly showed their interest in this issue.
Finally, our school Principal thanked all participants and ended the ceremony with a reflection: “We must learn to respect our cultural and religious differences. Our school is committed to acknowledging and celebrating multiculturalism in a peaceful and tolerant way.”
On the Religion Day, Italian students compared the Holy Quran with the Holy Bible to find out similarities and differences.
https://sites.google.com/s/1lGgRyqGtxHkq7xi5Zf68vtSyOmv4LG5w/p/1loNjk8pNzzrV7i_ARv2zy7tTScC1ScVs/edit