KUCHING, Dec 6: The Archbishop of Canterbury’s personal representative to the Holy See (in Vatican City, Rome), the Most Reverend Ian Ernest, today paid a courtesy call on Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas at the latter’s office.
During the visit, Ernest extended an invitation to Uggah to visit the Anglican Centre there to share his experiences on promoting, strengthening, and enhancing inter-religious collaboration, unity, and harmony in the State.
“Rome belongs to all the Christians in the world, and the Anglican Church there also enjoys close rapport with the Pope,” he said in a statement.
Ernest, who is from Mauritius but is now based in Vatican City, said he was in Sarawak to see what is being done for the Anglican faith and expressed how impressed he was.
He added during his visit to Miri over the weekend, he had the opportunity to attend the Miri City Christmas Parade, which Uggah, representing Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, attended.
“Again, I was most impressed and touched by what I had seen to increase this very strong collaboration among the different churches. Despite the rain, the people stayed on for the event,” he said.
Meanwhile, Uggah, who is the minister-in-charge of the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor), said Sarawak still enjoys solid religious harmony despite its multi-religious and multiracial population.
“The formation of Unifor is one step in enhancing and strengthening this,” said Uggah.
He also reminded the Christian congregations to use face masks in all crowded situations, especially with the upcoming Christmas celebration and related events and activities.
He said the Omicron XBB variant of the Covid-19 virus is infectious, and people must take the necessary steps to protect themselves. — DayakDaily
