This article is from page 21 of the 2011-07-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 21 JPG
A NEW community church will open its doors to both English- and Portuguese-speaking Christians in Gort next month, in an effort to help establish positive relationships between the local Irish and the large Brazilian migrant community.
A number of incidents of race-related antisocial behaviour have been reported in Gor t in recent months and the economic crisis has led to increased tensions between the Irish and Brazilian communities.
The new church will begin in Gort from August 14 and will offer both English and Portuguese services, as well as a number of community events and services designed to help bring the local population together.
“It is important that we reach out to the English-speaking people and let them know that they can become part of this church. We want people from all communities to mix together and mingle more,” said Reverend Sebastian Baptista.
“It is natural for people to want to mix among their own people, that is fine, but there also needs to be integration between the different peoples. There is a cer tain discrimination between all communities.
“It is natural for people to mix with thei r own people but if that is all they do, then it inevitable that there will be discrimination. As people learn to work with each other, then their attitudes can change very quickly.”
The church is open to anyone from any Christian faith, with services in English set to take place on Sunday mornings from 11am while Portuguese services will take place from 7pm on Sunday evenings.
One of the key aims of the new church is to establish a number of non-church-based activities which will help bring the community into the centre.
“We want to reach out to the community. We have a ver y big building here and we want to work with people like the community centre to organise events for people. We want to give the youth here another option instead of being out on the street doing things that they are not supposed to be doing,” continued Reverend Sebastian Baptista.
“Religion in the church is great, but if you look at the scriptures you see Jesus out there mixing with the people. It is not just about what is happening inside the four walls of the church – it is about what happens out in the community.”
The church is located at Warehouse Unit 1 on the Kinincha Road in Gor t.