Interfaith precinct in Bendigo to promote unity

A $15 million dollar interfaith precinct has been launched in the regional city of Bendigo in central Victoria, in what organisers have called the first national project of its kind.

Most Reverend Leslie R Tomlinson DD, Bishop of Sandhurst, His Excellency, Most Reverend Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Papal Nuncio in Australia and The Hon. Tim Fischer, AC, Patron of Aspire Cultural and Charitable Foundation with local students. (Supplied)

Reverend Leslie R Tomlinson DD, Bishop of Sandhurst, Reverend Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Papal Nuncio in Australia and Tim Fischer, patron of Aspire Cultural and Charitable Foundation with local students in front of the Mary MacKillop statue. (Supplied)

It joins a growing number of projects for faith communities in the area, including the development of a $20 million Tibetan Bhuddist Great Stupa, a proposed mosque for the Muslim community and a monastery for the Karen Bhuddist community.

The precinct is located next to the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the city's CBD and will feature a business hub, education centre and communal spaces.

Part of the new precinct will also be devoted to a museum called "Faith of the Goldfields" to explore the migration and religious stories of the city that was born in the gold rush of the nineteenth century.

"The word faith certainly includes religious faith, but essentially it is more the faith of the people that come all over the world to a hot, foreign, hostile country," said Gordon McKern, chairman of the Aspire Cultural and Charitable Foundation that co-funded the project.

"In the 1850, 1860s and so forth, they came to find gold; but had the faith to build a city and make themselves at home here."

Full interview with Gordon McKern



He said the project has broad community support from faith groups.

"The interfaith part of it is every religion and every part of every religion is supporting us with this. So we've got support from locally, for example, the Jewish communtiy, the Anglican community, the Bhuddists. They're all supporting it in everyway."

He said Bendigo's history as gold rush town that drew a diversity of cultures and faiths, made it the logical choice for the interfaith project.

"You may or may not realise Bendigo is still, even in 2014 - there has been more gold found in Bendigo than any other city in Australia, except Kalgoorlie [in Western Australia]. So Bendigo is really the heart of the gold rush era because that was where the gold really was.

"And because of the town at the time, the Catholic Church in particular - and the Anglican - had enough money to build quite magnificent Cathedrals. So in effect this is a logical place for an interfaith concept to be developed because of the gold history and because of this magnificent Cathedral."

Community leaders hope the project will attract local and international pilgrims.

"There's already over 80,000 visitors here every year just to see the Sacred Heart Cathedral; and by having this new museum on the same site, that will attract even more people," Gordon McKern said.

"So it will become a tourist attraction, but also a mark of respect of those people of those days."
 
The site was launched today with the unveiling of a three-metre statue of Saint Mary MacKillop. Construction of the project is expected to be completed by 2017.


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By Biwa Kwan


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