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West risks obsession with Islam, warns Vatican
The Vatican has given warning that the West's efforts at inter-faith dialogue must not be held hostage" by Islam and are in danger of becoming "obsessed" with it at the expense of other religions.Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, said that the Church has to have regard for all religions". He said that the council had this week discussed new guidelines for inter-faith dialogue. What was interesting about our discussions was that we did not concentrate on Islam because in a way we are being held hostage by Islam a little bit," he told the Catholic website Terrasanta.net. "Islam is very important, but there are also other great Asiatic religious traditions. Islam is one religion." However, asked if there was a sense that Islam must not "monopolise" inter-faith dialogue Cardinal Tauran replied: "Yes, people are obsessed by Islam. For example I'm going to India next month and I want to give this message that all religions are equal. Sometimes there are priorities because of particular situations, but we mustn't get the impression there are first-class religions and second-class religions". He said that the new guidelines being discussed amounted to "a kind of road map for priests, bishops and ordinary brothers and sisters ... Of course, these have to be adapted to local situations, as someone in Morocco is not in the same situation as someone in Japan." The guidelines however would be "more concrete" than those issued in the early 1990s. The cardinal criticised Saudi Arabia for not allowing Christian worship. What is good for me is good for the other, so if it's possible for Muslims to have a mosque in the West, we should have the same in Muslim countries. This is not the case in many countries." He said that last week he had celebrated mass at a new church in Doha, Qatar, consecrated a month ago. "It is a very impressive building. Now we're going to have a school there run by nuns. So this is an example of very good inter-religious dialogue with very concrete effects. In Saudi Arabia that is not the case yet." Asked about reports of a Vatican-Saudi dialogue, Cardinal Tauran said that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had in mind a "tripartite dialogue" between Christians, Muslims and Jews. I think he's beginning to convince his own people," the cardinal said. However talk of building a church in Saudi Arabia was premature. "We don't have precise information about what the King has in mind, but I suppose it will be a gradual evolution, for example the possibility to celebrate services in hotels, in embassies, Cardinal Tauran said. He said that preparations for the ground breaking Islamic-Christian Forum called by the Pope were well under way. Posted by: mrp 2008-06-11 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=241402 |