Sr Suporna Rozario smsm
My name is Suporna Bernadette Rozario. I am from Bangladesh. I am the second child of five children. My parents are still living. I was born and brought up in a Catholic family. When I was a little girl I wanted to be a sister and that desire stayed with me until I grew up. Not only did I want to be a sister but more specifically I wanted to be a missionary sister. When I finished my high school I met the Marist Missionary Sisters and from that very moment I knew I wanted to be one of them. I was attracted to the Marist Spirituality and their way of being missionary. So I asked to join the sisters but they told me I was too young to join them and told me to finish my study. I continued my studies and kept contact with the smsm sisters and learnt more about their way of life. When I finished my BA I joined the sisters.
I came to Australia to continue my formation. Learning English and a new culture was not easy but this helped me to learn about myself and affirmed my vocation to be a missionary. I went to New Zealand to do my novitiate and made my first profession in 2000. Straight after my profession I went to Fiji and lived there for three years. I studied at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Fiji and completed a diploma in theology. Then I was missioned back to my own country and worked there for three years. During those years I worked with handicapped people, garment workers and street girls and I enjoyed working with them. Then I was missioned to Australia. I went to Fiji for two months for the preparation of final vows and made my final vows in January 2006 in Wahroonga, NSW, Australia.
At present I am working in interfaith dialogue for the Parramatta Diocese and also at the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations, Strathfield, NSW. The Centre aims to build relationship between people from different religions particularly between Christian and Muslim who make 50% of the world population. The Centre organises conferences, seminars, workshops, networking with interfaith and multi-faith groups, provides speakers and resources, especially on Islam and interfaith dialogue and publishes Occasional Papers and a quarterly newsletter, “Bridges”. I am enjoying working there and I am learning a lot about inter-religious dialogue.
In the Parramatta Diocese I work mainly with young people in interfaith dialogue. In collaboration with the Affinity Intercultural Foundation I started youth encounters. At present there are four youth encounter groups. Each group consists of 4 Christians and 4 Muslims (2 male and 2 female) who meet once a month taking a topic, and sharing and discussing from their faith traditions. This year in May, I organised a Youth Open Forum and the topic was “Spiritual Youth in a Secular Society”. There were 64 youths from both Christian and Muslim traditions who found the forum very interesting and wanted to be involved in interfaith dialogue. I am trying to bring awareness of the importance of interfaith dialogue to the youth. Once a week I go to the Penrith Campus of the Western University of Sydney and engage in dialogue with the students and staff of different faiths.
I am also involved in Women’s Interfaith Network. I joined the group at North Parramatta who meet once a month, take a topic and share/discuss on it from respective faith traditions. The group includes Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Quaker, Baha’i Uniting Church, and Sikh women. Recently I have started another Women’s Interfaith Network group in Merrylands who also meet once a month, to share and discuss on a chosen topic from their faith traditions.
As I grew up in a Muslim country I became very interested in interfaith dialogue when I was studying in Fiji and I have been involved in interfaith dialogue since then. Today, inter-religious dialogue is not an option; rather it is a must. People of different faith traditions live side by side more than they ever did before. Therefore, inter-religious dialogue is very important in our society. It helps us to respect, to learn from each other and to live in harmony. The Marist Missionary sisters live and work with people of different cultures and faith traditions. I am very happy being a smsm sister and being involved in inter-religious dialogue. I am learning and growing every day in the area of inter-religious dialogue which is a pressing need of the Church’s mission today.
PO Box 662
Merrylands NSW 2160
 Marist Laity Australia officially launched by Fr Bill Ryder, sm Australian Provincial |
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