A dialogue of charity with Muslims

"No one came to help us. Instead he cared for my child and wanted nothing in return. For me he really is a father”. Jamila Begum is a Muslim woman. The "father" of whom she speaks is a Catholic priest, Fr Paul Ballan, PIME missionary in Bangladesh since 2005. She found out about him from another priest of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions who met Jamila in her village and sent her to Dhaka certain that his brother could help her. Noyan, the woman’s 12 year-old son  was sick, Fr. Ballan took them in and cared for them.  

Fr. Ballan can tell a hundred stories similar to Jamila and Noyan’s since his arrival in the parish church dedicated to Mary Queen of Apostles. The church was built in 1994 in the district of Mirpur, one of the most populated areas of the capital. It is immersed in a Muslim community, the presence of which is signalled by the minarets of the many mosques that overlook the church.  

The relationship with the Islamic world is high on the agenda of PIME missionaries in a country like Bangladesh where more than 85% of the population of over 140 million is Muslim. Fr. Ballan tells AsiaNews that every gesture and every action is an opportunity for an encounter. Starting with the shelter for the poor open behind the church where "the poor come from all over the country sent by PIME priests and other religious." In the centre they receive free health care and food.  

Bonkim Munda, a young indigenous who came to Dhaka, describes Fr Ballan as "an angel of God" that saved him from a fate of abandonment. But the priest says that the center is not only an opportunity to help the poor. "It is also a school of prayer and love for the parishioners." It is mainly young people who become involved as volunteers in charity centre. Fr. Ballan says that "it was the youngest members who organised the blood donation campaign and they involved all the other parishioners. Everyone responded to it and it was an opportunity to express their love for their neighbours, without distinction of religion among Christians and Muslims. "  

The PIME missionary says that "sometimes people turn up on their own initiative for the mass on Sunday to pray for their healing." Just as with the centre, the elementary school open in the parish offers the possibility of meeting with Muslim families. Much of the 350 children who attend are the children of Muslim parents. For mothers and fathers of small students their daily interaction has become an opportunity to get to know each other and build friendships.

The presence of missionaries and nuns in the neighbourhood has attracted the attention of many young people "for whom 10 meetings are organized every year - explains Fr. Ballan - in which we try to help them recognize their vocation to marriage or religious life. " In recent years these events have been attended by about 400 boys. Two of them have applied to enter the seminary, which the PIME missionary identifies as "a sign of respect and openness" for the work done by the priests over the years in Dhaka and in many towns and villages country.  

 The presence of PIME in Bangladesh dates back to the mid nineteenth century and the first missions began their work when the country was still part of India. Today the missionaries of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions are located in the Diocese of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Dinajpur, where they are engaged in charitable works, training and pastoral activities.