Download Pope`s Answer to Letter from 138 Muslim Religious Leaders

Pope’s Answer to Letter from 138 Muslim
Religious Leaders
Rèsumè : Last October 13, on the occasion of the end of the Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr), a group of 138
Muslim religious leaders had sent to Benedict XVI and the leaders of other Churches and Christian
denominations an open letter entitled “A Common Word Between Us and You”…
Last October 13, on the occasion of the end of the Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr), a group of 138 Muslim
religious leaders had sent to Benedict XVI and the leaders of other Churches and Christian
denominations an open letter entitled “A Common Word Between Us and You”, a quotation from a
verse of the Koran addressed to “the people of the Book, Jews and Christians.” The letter explains
that “Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without
peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the
world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians. (…) Thus in
obedience to the Holy Qur’an, we as Muslims invite Christians to come together with us on the basis
of what is common to us, which is also what is most essential to our faith and practice: the Two
Commandments of love (of God and neighbor, Ed.).”
Unabridged Text of the Answer
The pope answered in a letter dated November 19 and made public on November 29. The letter was
signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, and addressed to Prince Ghazin bin
Muhammad bin Talal, president of the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought):
“On 13 October 2007 an open letter addressed to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and to other
Christian leaders was signed by one hundred and thirty-eight Muslim religious leaders, including
Your Royal Highness. You, in turn, were kind enough to present it to Bishop Salim Sayegh, Vicar of
the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in Jordan, with the request that it be forwarded to His Holiness.
The Pope has asked me to convey his gratitude to Your Royal Highness and to all who signed the
letter. He also wishes to express his deep appreciation for this gesture, for the positive spirit which
inspired the text and for the call for a common commitment to promoting peace in the world.
Without ignoring or downplaying our differences as Christians and Muslims, we can and therefore
should look to what unites us, namely, belief in the one God, the provident Creator and universal
Judge who at the end of time will deal with each person according to his or her actions. We are all
called to commit ourselves totally to him and to obey his sacred will.
Mindful of the content of his Encyclical Letter “Deus Caritas Est” (God is Love), His Holiness was
particularly impressed by the attention given in the letter to the twofold commandment to love God
and one’s neighbour.
As you may know, at the beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI stated: “I am profoundly
convinced that we must not yield to the negative pressures in our midst, but must affirm the values
of mutual respect, solidarity and peace. The life of every human being is sacred, both for Christians
and for Muslims. There is plenty of scope for us to act together in the service of fundamental moral
values” (Address to Representatives of Some Muslim Communities, Cologne, 20 August 2005). Such
common ground allows us to base dialogue on effective respect for the dignity of every human
person, on objective knowledge of the religion of the other, on the sharing of religious experience
and, finally, on common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the
younger generation. The Pope is confident that, once this is achieved, it will be possible to cooperate
in a productive way in the areas of culture and society, and for the promotion of justice and peace in
society and throughout the world.
With a view to encouraging your praiseworthy initiative, I am pleased to communicate that His
Holiness would be most willing to receive Your Royal Highness and a restricted group of signatories
of the open letter, chosen by you. At the same time, a working meeting could be organized between
your delegation and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, with the cooperation of some
specialized Pontifical Institutes (such as the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies and
the Pontifical Gregorian University). The precise details of these meetings could be decided later,
should this proposal prove acceptable to you in principle.
I avail myself of the occasion to renew to Your Royal Highness the assurance of my highest
consideration.”
Vatican Information Service specified: “In expressing his thanks and appreciation for this significant
initiative by the eminent group of Muslim figures, the Holy Father reaffirms the importance of
dialogue based on effective respect for the dignity of the person, on objective knowledge of the
other’s religion, on the sharing of religious experience, and on joint commitment to promoting
mutual respect and acceptance.”
Roman observations on the exchange of letters
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue,
responded to questions in the October 18 edition of La Croix, following the publication of the letter
from 138 Muslims : “It is a positive initiative, to the extent that the text proposes cooperation based
on shared values : recognition of a unique God, the love of God for each person and the necessity of
loving one’s neighbor. One aspect which struck me in particular was that perhaps for the first time,
a document signed by Muslims presents the Jesus of the Gospels with quotes from the New
Testament, not based on quotations from the Koran.
Moreover, this document was signed by both Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Basically, it poses the
question to believers of both religions, : Is God Unique in my life?
In any event, this initiative clearly shows that with good will and a respectful dialogue, we can
succeed in overcoming prejudices. We have here an eloquent example of the ‘dialogue of
spiritualities’. (…)
“With some religions, yes, (one can have theological discussions). But with Islam, no, not for the
moment. The Muslims do not accept that there could be discussions on the Koran, because it was
written they claim, dictated by
God. With such an absolute interpretation, it is difficult to discuss the content of the faith…”.
In an interview given to the Italian daily Avvenire on November 30, the same cardinal stated :
“Together with Islam we can certainly contribute to the safeguard of certain values, such as the
sacredness of human life, the dignity of the family and the promotion of peace”. “With the Muslims,
we can appreciate the dimension of the transcendence of God, the value of prayer and fasting, the
courage to bear witness to one’s own faith in public life… for their part, the Muslims can learn from
us the value of a healthy secularism”.
“The Catholic church, with the Vatican II document, Dignitatis Humanae, has rediscovered the
principle according to which no man may be forced to or prevented from practicing a religion. I hope
that Islam also, rediscovers this principle in their deeds. “What is good for the believers of one
religion, must also be good for the faithful of other religions. Thus, if it is just that the Muslims have
a beautiful large Mosque in Rome, it is equally just and necessary, that Christians have the
possibility to have their church in Riyadh”. “An Islam which preaches and practices terrorism, is not
an authentic Islam but a perversion of Islam”.
On December 8, Fr. Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office, pointed out at
the microphone of Vatican Radio, that “the pope believes in dialogue, a sincere and loyal dialogue,
naturally”. The response of the pope, published on November 29 recalls that differences should not
be minimized” and “above all, that which unites us” should be promoted. “There are also, amongst
the Muslims sagacious speakers and experts, who are aware of the great challenges facing
humanity today and it is a positive thing that a capacity for common expression and a will to declare
themselves explicitly in favor of peace is growing amongst them. This is the right direction. We must
help each other and continue along this road”. (Sources : VIS / Vatican.va/La Croix/Apic/Imedia)
Our observations
What peace can interreligious dialogue, in the name of a claimed common faith in one God, achieve.
Let us re-read Bishop Fellay’s letter to John-Paul II of October 28, 1999, on the occasion of the
interreligious meeting in Rome, in which he condemns the “immense indifferentism” promoted by
the meetings organized in the spirit of Assisi, as “the humanitarian, worldly and naturalistic themes
of these meetings cause the Church to fall from her wholly divine, eternal and supernatural mission
to the level of Masonic ideas of a world peace, outside of the Unique Prince of Peace, Our Lord Jesus
Christ”.
On the false idea that Catholics and Muslims have faith in the same unique God, we refer our
readers to the study by Fr. François Knittel in the December 2007 edition of Christendom. This lucid
study ends with the following lines : “To allow Catholics, not to mention all those who are not
Catholics, to believe that we all worship the same God, is an error contrary to reason and to the
Catholic faith . It is a lack of charity towards those lost souls which maintains them in their error. It
is a lack of charity towards Catholics who risk losing their Catholic faith”. “What can be done?” asks
the author, and he replies with these words of St. Pius X : “But Catholic doctrine tells us that the
primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas, however sincere they may be, nor
in the theoretical or practical indifference towards the errors and vices in which we see our brethren
plunged… Whilst Jesus was kind to sinners and to those who went astray, He did not respect their
false ideas, however sincere they might have appeared. He loved them all, but He instructed them in
order to convert them and save them.” (Our Apostolic Mandate” August 25 1910)
See: “Do all religions have the same God?”, Christendom n° 108, Nov-Dec. 2007