Loading...St. John’s/Ocean Springs is partnering with the Center for Interreligious Understanding at Spring Hill College to screen the film Besa: The Promise on Thursday, July 24, at 6:30 PM in the church parish hall.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
“The film is fascinating,” said Dr. John Switzer, a member of St. John’s and a part of the Center for Interreligious Understanding. “Besa is the Albanian word for promise. During World War II there were man Albanian Muslim families who saved Jews from the Nazi genocide. They did this at great personal risk by hiding them among their own family members.”
Switzer, a resident of Jackson County, said the film has not been publicly released and is being screened through a cooperative effort of the Center with the Mobile Area Jewish Federation. Switzer noted that the Gulf Coast is increasingly becoming home to different religious communities, including Buddists, Muslims and Hindus. “We’ve had Jewish communities for a while now,” he said. “The goal of the Center is to help our area’s residents get to know one another through talking face to face, attending public lectures, and this new initiative that we are calling ‘Films for Understanding.
“The event at St. John’s is important to the Center for two reasons: 1) it’s the first Center event outside of Mobile, Alabama, and 2) it’s the first film screening of our new film initiative. This event itself is fine example of interreligious cooperation,” Switzer said.
The Rev. Scott Lenoir is Priest Associate at St. John's.
