Christians and Muslims Called by God to Work Together
(06 Nov 08 - RV) The three day forum on Catholic-Muslim dialogue has ended, with delegates
signing a joint declaration on “Love of God and Love of Neighbour” Thursday afternoon
at the Pontifical Gregorian University...
Earlier in
the day Pope Benedict XVI met with the group of Catholic and Muslim scholars in the
Vatican where he emphasised the global interest generated by the seminar and praised
its emphasis on the Dignity of the Human Person and Mutual respect between the two
religions.
Despite their theological differences, Christians and Muslims
are called by God to work together in promoting respect for human dignity and upholding
fundamental human rights. That was the heart of Pope Benedict’s message on Thursday
to participants at a three day seminar organised by the new Catholic-Muslim forum
here in the Vatican. Some two dozen Muslim scholars have been meeting with a similar
number of Catholic experts to discuss the theme ‘Love of God, Love of Neighbour: the
dignity of the human person and mutual respect: “I was pleased to learn that you
were able at this meeting to adopt a common position on the need to worship God totally
and to love our fellow men and women disinterestedly, especially those in distress
and need. God calls us to work together on behalf of the victims of disease, hunger,
poverty, injustice and violence. For Christians, the love of God is inseparably bound
to the love of our brothers and sisters, of all men and women, without distinction
of race and culture”. In his words to participants in the Catholic-Muslim forum,
Pope Benedict said respecting and defending life as a gift from God must form the
common ground for building a more fraternal world in which confrontations are peacefully
settled and the devastating power of ideologies is neutralised: “My hope, once
again, is that these fundamental human rights will be protected for all people everywhere.
Political and religious leaders have the duty of ensuring the free exercise of these
rights in full respect for each individual’s freedom of conscience and freedom of
religion. The discrimination and violence which even today religious people experience
throughout the world, and the often violent persecutions to which they are subject,
represent unacceptable and unjustifiable acts, all the more grave and deplorable when
they are carried out in the name of God. God’s name can only be a name of peace and
fraternity, justice and love. We are challenged to demonstrate, by our words and
above all by our deeds, that the message of our religions is unfailingly a message
of harmony and mutual understanding” In conclusion, Pope Benedict said failure
to overcome past prejudices and promote a message of peace and harmony will weaken
the credibility and effectiveness not only of interfaith dialogue but also of religions
themselves.