By Sumeyra Nur Korkut, Constanza Saad & Agustín Nacinovich

A meeting between young Catholics and Muslims that became a transformative experience of friendship, respect and shared faith, challenging cultural and religious barriers in an atmosphere of universal fraternity and openness.

It all started in 2023. Our group of young people from the Focolare Movement offered us to participate in a space with other young people from a Muslim community, from the Hizmet Movement. We were Catholics, they were Muslims. The proposal was a meeting which made us feel very curious, but at the same time we were eager to accept the challenge of sharing with a group totally unknown to us because of their religion and culture. It had been explained to us that they did not speak Spanish, that they were very shy and that we had to take some precautions with physical contact.

For that first meeting, then, we thought of organising a game night, with the challenge of thinking up dynamics that would break down the barriers of language and physical contact, to offer a friendly space to get to know each other. The experience we had was incredible from the beginning. We found ourselves with a group much closer to us than we expected, who were eager to play, to meet each other and to make sure that language was not an obstacle, offering gestures of love, patience and smiles. The presence of the same God among us during the meeting was real and filled us with joy. We discovered the love that lies behind wanting to discover someone different, just for the sake of knowing them and loving them for what they are.

Sumeyra, a young Muslim, tells us how she experienced it: “It was a new experience for us. This proposal was something we had been waiting for for a long time: a meeting between us, young Muslims, and the young people of the Focolare Movement. ‘We invite you to an evening of games and pizza’, said the invitation. Many of our young people were boys and girls who had just arrived from Turkey to study, some of them just learning to speak Spanish. The main goal we had was for them to be able to integrate. What we found was wonderful: already at the door we were greeted with a sign saying ‘Hoşgeldiniz’ (‘Welcome’ in Turkish).  Even before we entered the house, we felt like family. Inside, the joy was even greater. We were greeted with smiles and hugs, and they tried to talk to us with a lot of excitement. We really didn’t want the day to end. As we left all we could think was: ‘We have to meet again’. Because the love and the bond we felt was so strong that we couldn’t let it go”.

Iris, from the Focolare Movement, who together with Raul offered their home for the meeting, says: “Our house, the venue for the event, spontaneously became a mosque, a tabernacle, a family home. At a certain point the games were interrupted for the moment of their last prayer facing Mecca. The dining room was carpeted with blankets and blankets. They kneeling and all of us sitting or standing. They were praying with songs and prayers and we were gathered in deep silence. The encounter with the ‘One God’ was real. At the end they said a special prayer for all of us. Immediately afterwards we went back to the games, the laughter, the food. It was celebration and joy that enveloped and amazed us all. No one wanted to leave. Nobody wanted them to leave. Our young people were surprised and delighted. No one really understood what had happened, where we had been. When almost all of them left, the few who remained said: ‘This has to be continued, we have to do something with them soon’. The challenge was to love each other and to donate ourselves by being fully ourselves: Argentines, Catholics, so that they could be who they really are: Turks, Muslims. All, under the same belief of universal fraternity. God embraced us all and made us One”.

One of our friends who had arrived a year ago from Turkey also shares: “For me, there was no other environment that gave me the sense of security that I found in these meetings. At the beginning I was very shy, but as I attended the meetings I opened up. I started to overcome my shyness because of the respect and friendliness with which they looked at us and the warmth with which they welcomed us. I discovered people who were really interested in what I had to say and who created spaces where I could be myself. I witnessed that the issue was not language or religion. With these friends, I didn’t feel like a foreigner. And thanks to them I got to know myself, I got to know the Argentines, the Catholics. Those who for me were ‘the other’ and now they are part of my family”.

After that day we decided to meet again to continue sharing, learning our names, playing games, getting to know more about our cultures and religions. As Christmas approached, we Catholics wanted to tell them why this moment was important for our lives. They wanted to show us who Jesus was in their religion, and the many things they shared with ours. We had the experience of discovering points of convergence between two religions that we thought were so different, and also of being enriched by our differences. We were able to ask each other questions without fear of offending each other because we were confident in the bond we were building. Once again, we experienced in our midst the love that was present in a meeting, in a shared meal and in a life that was put in common.

“Another very nice experience we experienced was in the month of Ramadan, the most important month for us Muslims. In the meeting we had before Ramadan, we wanted to tell them what this month meant to us and how we lived it. Of course, a fundamental part of this month is fasting, and it was something we wanted to be able to share with our brothers and sisters. It was not easy for us to make this proposal. In fact, we were doing it for the first time. So, we proposed this challenge to them: that they experience fasting with us for one day, and then share the iftar, the dinner where we break the fast. They were very hesitant but at the same time eager, and we were very happy to see them. That iftar was very special for all of us. Listening to the experience of the children who had fasted, praying together and sharing the meal was a moment that brought us together, in which we really felt God’s presence among us”, says Feyza, a young Muslim.

When we were asked to fast, it was another sign of the bond we were building, and we threw ourselves into the experience. It was difficult at times, because hunger and thirst were strong, and our work and student life continued as normal, but we gave each other strength by sending messages and sharing how we were doing. In the evening, we were welcomed by the young Muslims, and they prepared a meal for us. We were sure that having fasted together with them had brought us closer, because it was a sign of the mutual love we had for each other.

These were just some of the many wonderful moments we had. Over time we discovered that our experience of God was also a witness to others, and we began to share with others what we were experiencing. We told what we felt and invited people to our meetings. We also shared it in some schools.

The story of this family, which began with a night of games, continues. The feeling of uncertainty and ignorance that we felt before each encounter has now been replaced by happiness and joy. On this bridge of friendship, we learned to laugh together, to cry, and to share our stories. We don’t want to stop because we know there is still so much to learn, and because we feel that by walking together we experience God’s love and help build the united world we want to create.