VATICAN CITY — Catholic and Muslim leaders worked on Thursday to deflate
suspicion between their two faiths, pledging at a high-level seminar here to
work together to condemn terrorism, protect religious freedom and fight
poverty........The three-day forum brought together nearly 30 Catholic clerics
and scholars, led by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the head of the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue; and as many Muslim clerics and scholars,
led by Mustafa Ceric, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina based in
Sarajevo........
____________________________________________________________
FINAL
DECLARATION - FIRST SEMINAR OF THE CATHOLIC-MUSLIM FORUM
ROME, 4-6
November, 2008
Gender Text
Excerpt: "4. We affirm that God's creation of humanity has two great
aspects: the male and the female human person, and we commit ourselves jointly
to ensuring that human dignity and respect are extended on an equal basis to
both men and women."
_____________________________________________________________________
Catholics
and Muslims to Fight Terror and Defend Faith
November 7, 2008
A Cardinal (L) looks at a religious book with a Muslim scholar
during a meeting at the Vatican
November 4, 2008. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Catholic and Muslim leaders
at unprecedented Vatican meetings vowed on Thursday to jointly combat violence
committed in God's name, to defend religious freedom and to foster equal rights
for minority faith groups.
After three days of meetings, the 58 scholars and leaders
-- 29 from each faith -- issued a joint declaration that also appealed for
respect for religious figures and symbols.
The meetings came two years after the pope gave a
speech hinting Islam was violent and irrational, sparking angry protests in the
Middle East. The Muslim participants formed a group to challenge that and seek
better mutual understanding.
The joint manifesto, A Common Word, called for
dialogue based on shared principles of love of God and neighbor.
"We profess that Catholics and Muslims are called
to be instruments of love and harmony among believers, and for humanity as a
whole, renouncing any oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially
that committed in the name of religion, and upholding the principle of justice
for all," said the statement describing the talks as "warm and
convivial."
Religious minorities were "entitled to their own
places of worship, and their founding figures and symbols they consider sacred
should not be subjected to any form of mockery or ridicule," it said.
The Vatican has long defended minority Christians in
places such as Saudi Arabia, where they cannot worship publicly, and urged
safety for Iraqi Christians. Muslims in western countries say they face
discrimination and suspicion by the majority.
The declaration's words about avoiding mockery or
ridicule reflected continued Muslim concern about the 2005 publication in a
Danish newspaper of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that sparked violent
protests in the Islamic world.
VAST FIELD FOR COOPERATION
Earlier in the day, Pope Benedict received the
delegations at the Vatican and said the faiths should cooperate much more.
"There is 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 German-born pope said.
"Let us resolve to overcome past prejudices and
to correct the often distorted images of the other which even today can create
difficulties in our relations," he added.
The Abu Dhabi-based Bishop of Arabia Paul Hinder said
he discussed with Muslim delegates the Vatican wish's to build churches in
Saudi Arabia for Catholic migrant workers there.
"I don't think we'll get any right away, but
things are changing," he told journalists.
The Vatican has also participated in interfaith talks
launched this year by Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, who will meet at the United
Nations in New York next week with other heads of state to further promote his
initiative.
These and other dialogues reflect a new urgency Muslim
leaders have felt after the September 11 attacks, the "clash of
civilizations" theory and the pope's 2006 speech in Regensburg showed a
widening gap between the world's two largest faiths.
Benedict said the Catholic-Muslim Forum, the official
name for this dialogue now set to take place every two years, was "now
confidently taking its first steps."
The Catholic delegation included Vatican officials,
Catholic scholars of Islam and bishops leading minority communities in Iraq,
Syria, Pakistan and the Gulf states. Three were women.
The Common Word group, an independent union of Islamic
thinkers from across the Muslim word, sent Sunni and Shi'ite religious leaders
and scholars from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and western countries,
including two women.
Ingrid Mattson, a convert who heads the largest Muslim
organization in North America, said the Common Word represented "the broad
mainstream of the Muslim world ... Those who oppose us, their voices will
become increasingly marginalized."
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