Call for Muslim-Christian unity 'encouraging' - Vatican interfaith head
A top Vatican official in charge of relations with Islam said a recent letter from Muslim scholars to Pope Benedict XVI and other global Christian leaders is “very interesting” and “very encouraging.”
Posted: Monday, October 15, 2007, 14:13 (BST)
A top Vatican official in charge of relations with Islam said a recent letter from Muslim scholars to Pope Benedict XVI and other global Christian leaders is “very interesting” and “very encouraging.”
"I would say that this represents a very encouraging sign because it shows that good will and dialogue are capable of overcoming prejudices," Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said Friday, according to The Associated Press.
The letter, entitled “A Common Word Between Us and You,” calls for peace and understanding between Islam and Christianity, claiming that if the two communities are not at peace “the world cannot be at peace.”
“Our common future is at stake,” it added. “The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake.”
The document has been hailed by many as unprecedented and historic as it includes the signatures of 138 Muslim clerics, scholars and intellectuals from all branches of Islam – Sunni and Shia, Salafi and Sufi, liberal and conservative. Among the signatories were no fewer than 19 current and former grand ayatollahs and grand muftis, noted Newsweek magazine.
Dr. Aref Ali Nayed, a senior adviser at the Cambridge Inter-faith Programmed at Cambridge University, told the British Broadcasting Corp. the letter was representative of the Islamic world.
"There are Sunnis, Shias, Ibadis and even the... Ismailian and Jaafari schools, so it's a consensus," he said.
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Added: Thursday, January 3, 2008, 23:18 (GMT)
I don't know if it is at all possble to come terms with all of Islam, for the simple reason that the various branches of Islam do not even agree among themselves. Even if certain Christian groups try to bridge the gap between Christianity and Islam, they have to be very careful not to falsely think that they come to terms with all of Islam. Thus, every step in the relations between Islam and Christianity must be monitored.
No one should jump to conclusions, because they will send out the wrong message. If even King Richard the Lionheart could not deal with Sala-ud-din the Kurd, how can anyone think that it can be brought any closer to solution today?
Kenneth T. Tellis, Mississauga, ONTARIO, CANADA
Added: Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 14:57 (BST)
Dear David, I know that this letter doesn’t mean that the Christians are no more persecuted in Muslim countries. I think this not as a final point but as a starting point for a dialog.
That in some parts of the world there are Muslims (of different traditions: Shiite and Sunnites...) that think in this way will encourage also others that think in this way to speak up. Meanwhile we pray and hope and act as our Lord taught us, with love for the ones that we have around us.
Adelaida, Bergamo, Italy
Added: Monday, October 15, 2007, 21:16 (BST)
Well, this is News!
In a world that will go on becoming a Global Village for at least a century or three, this is the kind of respectful messages we are looking for. The mutual interest and respect of the beliefs and denominations involved is very encouraging indeed:
Today a Belgian friend with Kenyan and US roots said to me:
"Love is what makes the world move".
I want to believe that, being married interculturally myself.
I just hope that top ranked officials of every faith and denomination continue their efforts to have contact with grass root people; to lead a world that is becoming more and more democratic, just also through the internet and pc, it is necessary that Leaders undertand their subjects.
Thanks for broadcasting this good news.
Kind Regards,
S. C. Hublou, Leuven, Belgium
Historian, openminded Christian, volunteer helper, Publicist
HUBLOU, Stef Christoph, Leuven, Belgium
Added: Monday, October 15, 2007, 15:48 (BST)
By sending this letter a week before Muslim imams in Iran called for all Muslims to boycott the Middle east peace talks just screams of hypocrisy.
Christians are not seen as equal in Muslim majority countries..in many Muslim countries Christianity is out lawed..preaching the gospel is a serious offence in Saudi Arabia..Muslims need to allow basic human rights and address their hatred of other faiths..if they did that then their would be peace in the world.
David Dunne, Haslingden, United Kingdom
