Message from the Holy See to Mark the Celebration of Ramadan 2025
Friday, February 28 202528 February 2025, Ottawa – To mark the month of Ramadan, which this year begins on Friday, 28 February or Saturday, 1 March—subject to the sighting of the moon—and shall end with the Eid Al-Fitr on 30/31 March, the Holy See’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue has recently published a message entitled “Christians and Muslims: What we hope to become together.” George Jacob Cardinal Koovakad and Msgr. Indunil Kodithuwakku (Prefect and Secretary of the Dicastery, respectively), express that this year’s Holy month of Ramadan (and Eid Al-Fitr) is unique inasmuch as it coincides with the Christian season of Lent.
“This time of fasting, prayer and sharing is a privileged opportunity to draw closer to God and be renewed in the fundamental values of religion, compassion and solidarity.”– excerpt from the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue Message.
Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar: concluding with the “Holiday of Breaking the Fast,” its days are characterized by abstinence from all food, drink, smoking and sexual intimacy, from sunrise to sunset. It is a duty, one of the five “pillars” of the Islamic faith, but is also seen as a privilege by pious Muslims, namely, as an opportunity to grow closer to God by foregoing ordinary comforts, engaging more intensively in prayer, and spending quality time with family and friends during the often-lavish evening and pre-dawn meals. Muslims believe that the Qur’an itself was revealed during Ramadan: hence the custom of reading the sacred text with even greater earnestness at this time.
In the unusual overlap of Lent and Ramadan obtaining in 2025, it is hoped that efforts at interreligious understanding and rapprochement lead to renewed opportunities for mutual enrichment.
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Maribel Mayorga
Director of Communications
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)
Email: communications@cccb.ca
Telephone: 613-241-9461, ext. 225