By Jacqueline Huber
The group has been active for about a year and has already had many successes. As well as being inter-religious, the group is also called "inter-convictional" because it brings together children and young adults aged 15 to 35 years, atheists, agnostics, Catholics, Muslims and Jews.
Far from the idea of "passive coexistence" whereby we live alongside each other without knowing each other, "coexister" proposes to live with others and above all to act together. This goal is accomplished in three stages: a dialogue to get to know each other without trying to convert the other; implementing joint initiatives together; and finally, raising awareness among young people in secondary schools.
Still in its infancy, this little group of about a dozen young people organizes meetings every two weeks to discuss and dialogue in order to get to know each other better. "Non-Stop", is the term they use for these meetings. They have had visits to the synagogue, the mosque and the Basilica of Argenteuil and to the synagogue in Paris, counting in each case on a religious personality of the place to act as guide. On other occasions the young people were invited to share a festive meal for the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, or the Islamic feast of "iftar" for the breaking of the fast during Ramadan.
On other occasions they have had meetings with a specific theme. Immediately after the Paris attacks of November 13, they had one entitled "how to live with each other"; but the themes also included topics like the Trinity or homosexuality in different religions.
The group was also the organizer of a conference attended by about 75 people, in which two young people talked about their travels around the world looking for interfaith initiatives. This gave rise to many solidarity initiatives in the Saint-Denis area in Argenteuil.
Through the "inter-convictional" meeting Ophelia began to ask questions about her faith. This led her to prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation which she received in January.
