Living Together and Dialogue Aboard Noah's Ark in Maastricht, Where the European Union Was Born

On the evening of Thursday 9 July 2026, in Maastricht, capital of the Dutch province of Limburg, I joined our Dutch friends aboard the symbolic Noah’s Ark (Ark van Noach) sailing on the river Maas, for “Noah’s Pudding: A Gathering for Living Together and Dialogue”, organised for the first time by Stichting Harmonie Limburg. It was a meaningful programme that brought people of different faiths, cultures and walks of life together around shared human values.

Held in Maastricht, the city known as the place where the foundations of the European Union were laid, this dialogue meeting was not only a symbolic boat trip. It was also a journey in living together, one that gives real hope for the future of Europe.

The purpose of the programme was to develop a culture of dialogue grounded in an understanding that sees difference not as a reason to split apart but as social richness, to build mutual trust, and to help people of different faiths and cultures come to know one another better.

Organised around the idea of “building the future together in the same world”, the programme produced a warm and sincere atmosphere through the talks given, the life stories shared and the traditional Noah’s pudding (Noachs Puding) served to everyone present.

Noah’s Ark: A Symbol of Shared Human Values

Speaking at the gathering, Deacon Pieter van de Laarschot, representative for interreligious dialogue at the Diocese of Roermond, described the story of Noah as a universal one that reflects the shared conscience of humanity. Drawing attention to the symbolic meaning of speaking aboard a vessel moving along the Maas, Van de Laarschot said that water both gives life and can destroy, and that Noah’s Ark is a symbol not only of deliverance but of meeting, of trust and of starting again.

Comparing the accounts of Noah in the scriptures, he noted that all of these texts call humanity to justice, mercy and responsibility, and he underlined the shared message with these words: “Real dialogue does not begin when everyone thinks the same way. It begins when people are genuinely ready to listen to one another.”

Recalling Pope Francis’s words, “Peace is built through encounters”, Van de Laarschot said that differences are not a threat but an opportunity to learn from one another, and he invited people everywhere to build ships of encounter and bridges of dialogue.

Noah’s Pudding: The Abundance Difference Creates Together

The second speaker, Germain Cruisberg, a language learning coach, focused on the symbolic meaning carried by Noah’s pudding.

Cruisberg said that this dish, prepared after the great flood from whatever different ingredients were to hand, remains today a powerful symbol of the common life that different cultures can build together.

In his talk he stressed that seeing others as being as valuable as ourselves, mutual respect, keeping clear of prejudice and accepting difference as richness are the basic conditions of living together.

From a Story About Neighbours to Peace in Society

The third speaker, retired head teacher John Schulpen, told of how a neighbourly relationship that began when a Turkish family moved into his street grew over time into a strong friendship.

Schulpen, who volunteers with refugees and works as a language coach, said that the iftar tables they organised together over many years brought different cultures around one table. As he came to know the volunteers of the Harmonie Limburg Foundation, he said, he realised they had far more values in common than he had imagined.

Noting that love for people, hospitality, helping one another, forgiveness and mutual respect form the ground of real friendship, Schulpen put it this way: “A culture of living together does not grow out of judging people from a distance. It grows out of getting to know them, listening to them, understanding them and sharing the same table.”

What all the talks across the evening had in common was dialogue, mutual trust, shared human values and a culture of living together. In that sense the event became a concrete reflection of "United in Diversity", one of the founding principles of the European Union.

By bringing people of different cultures and faiths onto the same boat and around the same table, the programme showed once again that a shared future can only be built on mutual respect, empathy and dialogue.

Participants spoke of how much they had enjoyed the warmth of the evening and the universal message it carried, while the serving of Noah’s pudding was warmly received as a meaningful act of sharing, symbolising difference coming together in harmony.

The Ship of Dialogue Sails On

This first boat programme, made possible by the considerable efforts of the volunteers of Stichting Harmonie Limburg, demonstrated once again that people of different faiths and cultures coming to know one another is one of the most important keys to peace in society.

This meaningful journey, which began on the Maas, was not merely an event lasting a single evening. It has stayed in people’s memories as an important step in a long term vision of dialogue, one aimed at strengthening the culture of living together in Europe.

At the close of the programme, thanks were given to the volunteers who contributed to the organisation, to the institutions and organisations that supported it, to the speakers, to the boat’s crew, and to all the guests whose presence enriched this meaningful gathering.

This time Noah's Ark sailed the Maas carrying not deliverance from a flood but something else: the shedding of prejudice, the getting to know one another, the meeting on shared human values, and the hope of building a more peaceful future together. This meaningful journey sent a powerful message from Maastricht to Europe:

“The route to peace in society runs through dialogue, mutual understanding and a culture of living together.”