Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI has thanked Muslim religious leaders for an October letter to Christian leaders in which they stressed better relations between the two faiths, the Vatican announced Thursday. In a letter dated November 19 and signed by the Vatican's second highest official, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, the pontiff also invited the 138 Muslim leaders to engage in further dialogue with the church.
The Vatican letter was addressed to Jordan's Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal who heads the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, an Amman-based non-governmental organization, that issued the appeal by the 138 Muslim leaders on October 13, a date coinciding with the Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
"The pope has asked me to convey his gratitude to your royal highness and to all who signed the letter," Cardinal Bertone wrote in the Vatican's response, the contents of which were made public by the Vatican Thursday. |