The Inter Faith Centre: A home away from home

BY B. SIEJA, F. BENDER, A. INHARJANTO 

DCU does its best to help and support new international students. DCU wants you to feel welcome, safe and happy therefore it offers many facilities across campus to reduce your stress and make you feel more at home. One of those places is located at the heart of the campus, the Inter Faith Centre. It’s cosy, it’s quiet and everybody is welcome.

Joe and Susan welcome everyone
by B. Sieja, F. Bender and A. Inharjanto

Joe and Susan Jones, the Chaplains in the Inter Faith Centre are looking after students' spiritual and religious needs. We asked Joe why he thinks students come to the Centre and this is what he told us: “Often it is to meet their friends over a cup of tea and some small groups use the meeting room for project work or even use the piano. We like to think that the Centre is a place of welcome for people of all faiths and none. Our logo for the Chaplaincy leaves one empty space for this particular reason to highlight to all that you don’t have to have a faith to come in and use the space.” We asked Susan if she thinks that the Centre is favoured by international students and she said: “Most of the students who come in for tea and to use the Muslim prayer rooms are international students’.

We go to the Centre quite often; on a bad rainy day, when we’re down, when we’re a bit lonely, when we want to pray or gather our thoughts, sometimes just to read a book or newspaper, often to chat with our friends. Joe and Susan “endeavour to create a homely atmosphere in the Inter Faith Centre” and that homely atmosphere gives us comfort, a sense of familiarity and belonging. We noticed how often in the Centre, over a cup of tea, students start talking to each other despite the fact that they come from different religious backgrounds, are studying different things and have never met before. This communication is what the Centre is all about.

We asked Joe about it and he told us: “Everything we do is helping us to make DCU one community/family, enabling us to move forward in mutual respect and harmony with dignity afforded to everyone who enters.” We also asked Susan about it and she told us: ”If you take the number of people who visit the Centre and see how people of different faith or no faith traditions chat and have a laugh with each other, and yet respect that people will slip into the prayer rooms to pray, and see how people offer each other support in relation to many issues, yes one gets a sense of the family of DCU.”

The Inter Faith Centre by B. Vysoky

The Centre is a welcoming place for students who have problems of any kind. The Chaplains are approachable for everybody who feels the need to talk to someone. Joe explained to us: “They come with many different needs and many questions at different levels; these can be personal or related to their studies or their own spiritual development.” Students, who are far away from home, might turn to the Centre when experiencing difficult times. For instance, when we have to cope with the loss of a family member, we can seek support in the Centre where the Chaplains would guide and accompany us during our time of grief. Apart from offering a helping hand in hard times, the members of the Centre are also there just to listen to us. Susan told us: “Many students are not aware that pastoral care is a very important aspect of Chaplaincy, that non-judgemental listening and support is part of our role.” Students are always welcome to just drop in and talk about whatever is on their mind. The Centre aims to be a place of open doors and open ears.

Apart from offering support in difficult times, the Inter Faith Centre is also very much involved in various events that take place on and off campus. When we asked Joe about the relationship between the Centre and the International Office he replied: ”Until recently the International Office was under the Student Support & Development so we all worked together very well. We have organised events like the Host Family Project when local families hosted students from foreign lands to give them a taste of Irish family life and culture.” The Centre also started the DCU Failte Programme. This programme offers trips to different places of interest in Ireland in order for us to learn more about Irish culture and heritage.

Logo used in the Centre by F. Bender

Besides the Christian or inter-faith services held by the Centre, there are also informative talks that explain spiritual topics. Susan told us: “At the moment we have the Talking Heads Programme which is done in conjunction with the Students Union and the School of Communication. This is where the leaders of the main religions in Dublin are interviewed by students.” There is also the Alpha course which is for anyone who would like to learn more about Christianity in particular. The Inter Faith Centre is therefore not only a place where we can go to worship but also a starting point for everybody who is interested in learning more about various religions. It is, however, not only the spiritual journey that could have its roots in the Centre, but also the exploration of Ireland, its culture and especially its people.

Irish hospitality and friendliness are well known around the world. Joe and Susan exercise those traits everyday through their creative projects for students carried out inside and outside the Centre. It is good to know we have so much support from people so deeply dedicated to their work. Our respect and gratitude for this place and the fond memories of events and moments spent in the Inter Faith Centre are a huge part of our college experience.

Read More

Why is St. Patrick’s Day one of the biggest celebrations for Irish People?

BY J. FERNANDES

Saint Patrick’s Day is a festival celebrated annually on 17th March, marking the day when Catholic Religion was first brought to Ireland by the most commonly of the Patron Saints of Ireland, St. Patrick. This festival consists of many parades and events around the country and outside of the country by Irish people and Irish descendants and increasingly by many of non Irish descent. It is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland and a bank holiday in Northern Ireland.

St. Patrick's Parade by A. Inharjanto

Saint Patrick was a missionary in the 5th century who is said to have converted Ireland to Christianity. That is why this day is considered an important religious celebration. This day is celebrated by a lot of people in many other countries, including the USA, Canada, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. In the island of Ireland, numerous cities, towns and villages like Galway, Limerick, Cork etc. have each one their own parades and festivals. However, the biggest celebration takes place in Ireland outside of Dublin in Down Patrick, Northern Ireland. 

Many Irish people enjoy their traditional meal including boiled potatoes with butter, roast spring lamb, Irish stew that is full of green parsley, beef and Guinness casserole. Children are allowed to get some candies, but there are much more, such as music and dance performances. Girls and boys play Irish folk music, which include concert, outdoor theatre performances and fireworks. The event is considered as one of Ireland’s biggest annual celebrations.

How does St. Patrick become very popular for Irish people?  A biographical story of St. Patrick as written here is commonly told. Many years ago the Roman ruled most of Britain. A boy was born in Roman Britain and grew up to be St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. That time there were a lot of young people being captured by raiders and sold as slaves. Patrick was just sixteen years old when he was seized by wicked men and brought to Ireland, there were no Christians in Ireland in those days. In Ireland he was a shepherd. He spent long days on the wild hills of Antrim minding sheep and talking (praying) to God.

A young reveller by J. Fernandes

Sometime when he was in Ireland for six years he had a dream. In his dream an angel told him he must escape, therefore he ran away, found a ship and abandoned Ireland behind. After a while he settled in France. He became a priest and spent several years studying a book called the Bible. There he had another dream, but this time he was told that he must come back to Ireland and teach the people about God. Patrick set off with a band of faithful followers.

The High King at Tara was the most powerful person in Ireland. He feared that Patrick’s Christian religion would teach people to be God followers instead of obeying the High King rules. Patrick convinced him that people could believe in God and also obey the High King. A plant called a shamrock grew all over Ireland, and one day Patrick picked it from the ground. He showed the High King at Tara that only one stem existed on the plant, but each stem contained three leaves. Patrick explained the Trinity of God. The High King became very impressed by Patrick and his story. He realized that Patrick did not want to take away his power, but simply to spread God message, so that the High King at Tara allowed Patrick and his followers to travel all over Ireland, converting the people to Christianity.

Nowadays, some people believe that St. Patrick banished the snakes from Ireland. Perhaps it is because heathens, who are people who don’t believe in God, are sometimes thought to be snakes. Perhaps, when the Irish become believers in God and were no heathens anymore, the snakes left Ireland.

On the way back from the parade by J. Fernandes

The popular St. Patrick Day tradition is wearing green clothing, which is the national colour that symbolizes the island’s lush landscape, the main symbol associated with this Irish popular day is Shamrock, a small three-leafed clover. The Shamrock became the national emblem of Ireland. Many Irish people wear sprigs of real Shamrock and greet each other in Irish Language using the words: ‘’Beannachatai na Feile Padraig oraibh’’, or in English language: ‘’May the blessing of St. Patrick be with you’’. On this day of celebration, there is opportunity and incentive for people of Irish descent and for those who wish they were Irish, also to attend and join in creative imaginative and expressive celebrations.

As I mentioned above all over the world, people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the same date which is 17th March. A lot of cities and towns of Ireland have special celebrations and parties. In Dublin city centre there is always a very large colourful parade through its main streets with a lot of carnival floats, marching bands, clowns and stilt walkers to remember St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland.  

Lastly, the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day for Irish people is equivalent to national celebrations in some countries around the world, for example the celebration of Angola’s and Poland’s independence day on 11th November, the celebration of the Bastille Day in France in 14th July, in Greece 25th March, in Hungary 4th April, or in Denmark 16th April.

Read More