The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (Vatican) and the
Centre for Inter-Religious Dialogue of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation
(Tehran, Iran) held their sixth Colloquium in Rome from 28 to 30 April 2008 under
the joint presidency of His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis TAURAN, President of the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and His Excellency Dr. Mahdi MOSTAFAVI,
President of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation.
The delegation
of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue was composed as follows:
His
Excellency Archbishop Pier Luigi CELATA His Excellency Archbishop Ramzi GARMOU Reverend
Monsignor Khaled AKASHEH Reverend Monsignor Prof. Piero CODA Reverend Father
Prof. Michel FEDOU, S.J. Prof. Vittorio POSSENTI Dr Ilaria MORALI
The
delegation of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation was composed as follows:
Hojjat
al-Islam Dr. Mohammad Jafar ELMI Hojjat al-Islam Dr. Mohammad MASJEDJAMEI Dr
Abdolrahim GAVAHI Hojjat al-Islam Dr. Seyyed Mahdi KHAMOUSHI Hojjat al-Islam
Dr Hamid PARSANIA Dr. Rasoul RASOULIPOUR Mr. Mohsen DANESHMAND
The participants,
with the help of six papers presented by three scholars from each side, examined the
theme Faith and Reason in Cristianity and Islam, which was developed through
three subthemes from the point of view of Catholics and Shi’a Muslims: 1) Faith
and reason: Which relation? 2) Theology/Kalam as inquiry into the rationality of faith;
3) Faith and reason confronted with the phenomenon of violence.
At
the end of the meeting the participants agreed upon the following: Faith and
reason are both gifts of God to mankind. Faith and reason do not contradict each
other, but faith might in some cases be above reason, but never against it. Faith
and reason are intrinsically non-violent. Neither reason nor faith should be used
for violence; unfortunately, both of them have been sometimes misused to perpetrate
violence. In any case, these events cannot question either reason or faith. Both
sides agreed to further co-operate in order to promote genuine religiosity, in particular
spirituality, to encourage respect for symbols considered to be sacred and to promote
moral values. Christians and Muslims should go beyond tolerance, accepting differences,
while remaining aware of commonalities and thanking God for them. They are called
to mutual respect, thereby condemning derision of religious beliefs. Generalization
should be avoided when speaking of religions. Difference of confessions within Christianity
and Islam, diversity of historical contexts are important factors to be considered.
Religious traditions
cannot be judged on the basis of a single verse or a passage present in their respective
holy Books. A holistic vision as well as an adequate hermeneutical method is necessary
for a fair understanding of them
The participants
expressed their satisfaction with the level of the presentations and the debates as
well as the open and friendly atmosphere during the colloquium.
The participants
were honoured and pleased to be received at the end of the colloquium by His
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who was particularly satisfied with the choice of the
theme and the venue of the meeting.
The next colloquium will be held in
Tehran within two years, preceded by a preparatory meeting.