THE Australian Catholic University has broken free of its conservative beginnings and appointed a chair devoted to the study of Islam and Muslim-Catholic relations.An associate professor in divinity from Turkey's Sakarya University, Ismail Albayrak, has been appointed to the Fethullah Gulen chair, named after the Turkish-born scholar who was granted a private audience with Pope John Paul II in 1998 to advance communication between religions.
It is hoped that the chair, funded by the Australian Intercultural Society at a cost of $500,000 in the first year, will smooth relationships between the faiths, which the university acknowledges have been fraught since September 11, 2001, and the Cronulla riots.
The pro-vice chancellor for academic affairs, Gabrielle McMullen, said the university had always been open-minded about the different denominations of the Christian church.
"This is a natural extension of that, to interface into religious dialogue and this, I think, is very important in the current situation in Australia," Professor McMullen said.
"In the 17 years that the university's been going, I think there's been a substantive change in the Australian community."
The university recognised that the best way to appreciate the faith on which it was founded was to learn about other religions as well, said Professor McMullen, who oversees the Asia-Pacific Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue, which was established at the Melbourne campus last year.
Dr Albayrak was born in Ankara, Turkey, and holds a doctorate in Quranic narrative from the University of Leeds.
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