Euromed youth leaders meet in Malta seminar

Delegates from youth associations in Hungary, Slovenia, Greece, Lithuania, Holland, France, Italy and Estonia, joined by other delegates from Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine and Tunisia, met in Malta recently to participate in a seminar organised by a local youth association.

This international contact-making seminar, organised by the Hamrun Youth Initiatives Association (HYIA), was held thanks to the YOUTH programme funded by the EU under the theme 'Medi-Terra - An Island among Religions'.

The delegates followed an intensive five-day programme, which included talks, games, discussions, and the setting up of new projects for young people.

In keeping with the theme, "An island among religions", all participants had a meeting with Archbishop Joseph Mercieca at his palace in Mdina and were taken on a tour of the nearby Cathedral.

They also visited the Greek Catholic church in Valletta, where they met and were shown around by the Papas Vito Borgia, who besides his explanation on icons also distributed pictures to the group.

Another activity was a visit to St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral, where they were shown around by chief warden Jean Attard and given a talk by Deacon David Felcage. They also visited St John's Co-Cathedral and museum.

Another principal activity of the programme was a visit to the Islamic Centre in Paola, where after joining in the evening prayers the delegates were addressed by Imam Mohammed Saadi, who explained the principles of the Islamic religion and answered several queries.

Later the Imam showed the delegates around the Islamic centre and then invited them to a reception.

In concluding the seminar, HYIA president and co-founder Omar Bugeja, who is also a Hamrun councillor, thanked the heads of the different religions in Malta for their co-operation in welcoming the participants to their places of worship, which greatly helped towards the successful programme of the seminar.

He also thanked all delegates for their tolerance and mutual respect to all religions, and praised the good work of the local members of HYIA for their efforts in organising the seminar.

The success of the seminar has encouraged the HYIA to plan a similar seminar in Albania.