Senior scholars and clergy from four traditions met in Baghdad on 21 September to mark the International Day of Peace 2012.

A senior Roman Catholic clergyman and scholars from the Shi’a (Sayyed Jawad al-Khoei) and Sunni (Dr Khalid Abdul-Wahab Mulla) traditions in Najaf travelled to Baghdad to visit Canon Andrew White (Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East) at the Anglican church.

They read passages from the Qur’an and from the Bible and prayed for peace together to mark the International Day of Peace.

Sayed Yousif Al-Khoei OBE of the Al Khoei Foundation, a member of the London Peace Network, helped arrange this significant visit and said, “Current events worldwide too readily lead to stereotyping and violence which harms us all.”  He added, “Such trench warfare leads nowhere, so we must come out of those trenches and embrace each other.”

The group later visited the Christian Dominican community in Baghdad.

Islamic scholars being welcomed to the Dominican Priory in Baghdad on 21 September.

Together at the Dominican Priory, Baghdad, on the International Day of Peace.