"These relations are important because it's a topic that's very pertinent and prominent in the news," said Mike Heimbach, director of youth and adult formation at Gesu.,”

Directors from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition met Wednesday night at Gesu Parish to discuss Christian-Muslim relations with the public.

"These relations are important because it's a topic that's very pertinent and prominent in the news," said Mike Heimbach, director of youth and adult formation at Gesu.

Judith Longdin, director of ecumenical and interfaith concerns for the Milwaukee Archdiocese, and Janan Najeeb, director of the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition, spoke about the progess that has been made and on what still needs to be done. The two women have been working together to improve local dialogue among Muslims and Christians for more than a decade.

"It's very important to hear about a faith from a practitioner of that faith to really learn about it," Najeeb said.

Christian-Muslim dialogue was set on its current path in 1965 by Nostra Aetate, a document from the Second Vatican Council that sets guidelines for relationships between Catholics and members of other faiths.

In reference to Islam, Nostra Aetate focuses on looking at the belief similarities of the two religions, on putting aside past differences, on recognizing the truth of other religions and on working together to promote peace, morals and social justice, according to Longdin.

"These guidelines started positive relations that matured during the time of Pope John Paul II because he emphasized involvement and outreach with Muslims, as well as growth in dialogue," she said.

Muslims responded to this outreach and are also pushed by their own faith to engage in interfaith relations.

"We are called to dialogue and to do good things with others," Najeeb said. "We believe God brought the same messages of peace, doing good to your fellow man and worship to all of humanity."

On a local level, Najeeb and Longdin started a dialogue group of Christian and Muslim women in 1996.

"We began with a handful of women and started discussing the basics of belief," said Najeeb. "At the beginning we were politically correct and didn't want to insult each other. As we got to know each other, we became friends and were then in a position to ask difficult questions."

"This dialogue makes you ask 'what can I learn from these women?' " Longdin said.

Members of the interfaith group began advocating for each other's religions within their parishes and started to make a difference in the community through health care, support and prayer services and annual conferences, according to Najeeb.

"This allowed communities to get to know each other better and to stand on what we believe is common ground," Najeeb said.

Besides local groups, there are regional and global grassroots organizations, according to Najeeb.

"What we really need is the dialogue taking place at the grassroots level to take place at a higher level," she said. "Right now that is lacking in both religions. We need to be able to work together on all levels."

This is especially true in the United States, according to Longdin.

"It's essential that we take advantage of having religious freedom in our country by asking difficult questions and by advocating for solutions to difficult problems," she said.

“