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Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Upon the conclusion of the first Seminar organized by the Catholic-Muslim Forum, established by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the representatives of the 138 Muslim scholars that wrote an open letter to Christian leaders on October 13, 2007, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received the participants of the Seminar in an audience held on November 6 in the Clementine Hall. “This gathering is a clear sign of our mutual esteem and our desire to listen respectfully to one another,” the Pope said, adding that “it represents one more step along the way towards greater understanding between Muslims and Christians within the framework of other regular encounters which the Holy See promotes with various Muslim groups.” It also represents “an incentive for us to ensure that the reflections and the positive developments which emerge from Muslim-Christian dialogue are not limited to a small group of experts and scholars, but are passed on as a precious legacy to be placed at the service of all, to bear fruit in the way we live each day.”
The theme chosen for the Seminar - “Love of God, Love of Neighbor: The Dignity of the Human Person and Mutual Respect”- is of particular importance, as it “presents love of God and love of neighbor as the heart of Islam and Christianity alike,” the Pope said, aware of the fact “that Muslims and Christians have different approaches in matters regarding God.” “Yet we can and must be worshippers of the one God who created us and is concerned about each person in every corner of the world. Together we must show, by our mutual respect and solidarity, that we consider ourselves members of one family: the family that God has loved and gathered together from the creation of the world to the end of human history,” the Pope explained.
After expressing his joy at the fact that during the encounter the participants have known how to adopt a “common position on the need to worship God totally and to love our fellow men and women disinterestedly, especially those in distress and need,” the Pope told them: “God calls us to work together on behalf of the victims of disease, hunger, poverty, injustice and violence. For Christians, the love of God is inseparably bound to the love of our brothers and sisters, of all men and women, without distinction of race and culture..The Muslim tradition is also quite clear in encouraging practical commitment in serving the most needy....We should thus work together in promoting genuine respect for the dignity of the human person and fundamental human rights, even though our anthropological visions and our theologies justify this in different ways.”
Indicating that “a great and vast field in which we can act together in defending and promoting the moral values which are part of our common heritage,” the Pope noted that “the recognition of the centrality of the person and the dignity of each human being, respecting and defending life which is the gift of God, and is thus sacred for Christians and for Muslims alike” is the common ground for “building a more fraternal world, a world in which confrontations and differences are peacefully settled, and the devastating power of ideologies is neutralized.”
The Pope continued: “My hope, once again, is that these fundamental human rights will be protected for all people everywhere. Political and religious leaders have the duty of ensuring the free exercise of these rights in full respect for each individual’s freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. The discrimination and violence which even today religious people experience throughout the world, and the often violent persecutions to which they are subject, represent unacceptable and unjustifiable acts, all the more grave and deplorable when they are carried out in the name of God. God’s name can only be a name of peace and fraternity, justice and love. We are challenged to demonstrate, by our words and above all by our deeds, that the message of our religions is unfailingly a message of harmony and mutual understanding. It is essential that we do so, lest we weaken the credibility and the effectiveness not only of our dialogue, but also of our religions themselves.”
In concluding his address, the Holy Father said that he prayed that the Catholic-Muslim Forum “can become ever more a space for dialogue, and assist us in treading together the path to an ever fuller knowledge of Truth” and encouraged all to unite their efforts “in order to overcome all misunderstanding and disagreements,” with the firm resolution to “overcome past prejudices and to correct the often distorted images of the other which even today can create difficulties in our relations.” Finally, he encouraged them to work “with one another to educate all people, especially the young, to build a common future.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 7/11/2008)
