A webinar was conducted on Thursday, 19th May, 2022, between 6 and 7 pm; and it was live streamed on NBCLC-India Youtube Channel. There were 80 participants. His Grace Archbishop Thomas Ignatius Macwan, Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, Gujarat too was present in this meeting.

The theme of the webinar was Pope Francis and Islam. At the outset, Rev. Dr. A. John Baptist, Director, NBCLC, extended a warm welcome to all the participants. With the opening prayer by the Holy Cross Sisters from Kottiyam the webinar commenced at the appointed time. The Chairperson and Moderator for the webinar was His Excellency Most Rev. Pauly Kannookadan, Bishop of Irinjalakuda and Chairman NBCLC; he welcomed everyone to the meet and introduced the resource person to them.

The speaker was Rev. Dr. Michael D. Calabria OFM, a Franciscan Friar of Holy Name Province. He is an Associate Professor and Director at the Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies, St. Bonaventure University, New York, USA. He has travelled extensively, especially in the Islamic World and has conducted several excavations and researches in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Oman, Turkey and India. He speaks widely on various aspects of Islam, the Arabic and Islamic cultures including the Qur'an, Islamic spirituality, art and architecture and Christian-Muslim relations, which has been a distinct Franciscan Mission. He has been promoting an understanding of Arabic and Islamic cultures through lectures, courses, conferences, webinars, consulting research and publications. This was followed by an interactive session between the speaker and the participants having His Excellency, Most. Rev. Pauly Kannookadan, as the moderator. Many questions were raised and the speaker cleared their doubts by providing additional information. The participants expressed their appreciation to NBCLC for hosting the Webinar on this novel topic and also to the speaker, who lucidly shared his vast knowledge and personal experiences.

Thereafter, Mr. Joyson, an NBCLC staff member, proposed a vote of thanks to all for their active participation and the smooth conduct of the webinar.

The webinar came to an end with a prayer by Rev. Fr. John Baptist.