Catholic Community of Mingan, Quebec, Canada Tackles Religious Stereotypes Through Film

Fr. Ali C. NNAEMEKA, OMI, is a Nigerian Oblate from the Province of Cameroon, working in Northern Canada.

For sometime now our news reports have focused heavily on the issue of migrants coming from areas where Islamic extremists and other rebel groups are sowing disorder and terror. This reality has created a stereotypical view of Islam among our youth, especially among those with no direct contact to the Islamic world. This has caused many of them to believe that Islam is synonymous with terrorism or anti-Christian activities.

As I continue to build connections with young people in my Ministry, I have come to understand that they are more vulnerable to such nefarious social media propaganda. The reality, I discovered, is more pronounced among the young people in some of our First Nation Communities where it seems even less is known about Islam. In many cases, all they know is what the media circulates. Which means they are convinced that there can be no peaceful cohabitation between Christians and Muslims.

To counter this misinformation and provide an opportunity for our youth to have a healthy and firsthand exposure to the possibility of a peaceful relationship between Christians and Muslims, on the evening of Good Friday, Saint Georges Catholic Community of Mingan organized a film viewing and discussion event.

With the support of my Oblate brothers we hosted the screening of an historical film, Of Gods and Men. The film centers on the adventure of eight French Trappist monks in the 1990s whose monastery was located in a remote Algerian village surrounded by Muslims. Their presence among these poor villagers was so blended that they were involved in almost every aspect of the community life. They even participated in Islamic festivities and took care of both sick and poor Muslims.

Then in the early 1990s came the Algerian Civil War and a local rebel group began exhibiting menacing behavior toward the monks. As life became more threatening, the monks had to decide between abandoning the village or staying and facing the possibility of death. After a series of community gatherings they opted to remain in the village with their Muslim brethren. Though they knew they were in danger and faced a double menace, one from the government, the other from the rebel group. Their decision to stay ended tragically.

Since this was my first attempt at hosting a film event, I could not predict the community’s level of interest. So, to promote the event I utilized the Community Radio and other social media sources to circulate information to the larger public. Surprisingly 99% of our young people showed up. Before beginning the film, I discovered from preliminary discussions that many of them had no idea what the word ‘Koran’ means. So we started by discussing some basic tenets of Islam and the possibility that some Christians could sacrifice their life for their Muslim brothers and sisters.

At the end of the film, our young people came to not only know more about Islamic realities, but that it is possible to love people of a different religious group because we are all created to love one another and live in peace and harmony.