Der Vatikan zieht
eine positive Bilanz des ersten Treffens des Katholisch-islamischen Forums in Rom.
Mit einem Bekenntnis zu Religionsfreiheit und Minderheitenschutz sowie einer klaren
Absage an Gewalt ist das Gesprächsforum am Donnerstag Nachmittag zu Ende gegangen.
In einer gemeinsamen Schlusserklärung bekräftigen die Teilnehmer die Menschenwürde
jedes Einzelnen und die Gleichheit von Frau und Mann. Mit Nachdruck sprach sich das
Forum auch für den Schutz des Lebens in allen seinen Stadien aus. Kardinal Jean-Louis
Tauran, Präsident des Päpstlichen Dialogrates, leitete die katholische Delegation.
Er sagte bei einer öffentlichen Abschlusssitzung an der Universität Gregoriana:
„Wir
haben in den letzten drei Tagen versucht, uns kennen zu lernen. Wir haben unsere Ideen
ausgetauscht und uns gegenseitig zugehört, und schließlich haben wir uns gefragt:
Was haben wir der Welt von heute zu sagen? Gar nicht viel – wir haben ihr vor allem
etwas zu zeigen! Durch unser Zeugnis, dass der Mensch nicht nur von Brot lebt; dass
wir Wahrheit, dass wir Nächstenliebe brauchen und Demut. So dass wir gemeinsam erreichen,
dass diese Welt kein Dschungel ist, sondern eine Familie. Sowohl Moslems wie Christen
erklären, dass Gott einen Plan mit der ganzen Menschheit hat, der darin besteht, uns
alle zu einer geeinten Familie zu machen. Ich glaube, wir haben angesichts der leidenden,
ringenden Menschheit ein Zeugnis abzulegen: Gott hat uns ein Herz und einen Verstand
gegeben, und es liegt an uns, sie nicht zum Bösen, sondern zum Guten zu gebrauchen.“ Die
15 Punkte umfassende Schlusserklärung wurde an der Gregoriana vor den Teilnehmern
des Forums verlesen. In dem Text wird betont, Katholiken und Muslime müssten jede
Unterdrückung, aggressive Gewalt und Terrorismus zurückweisen. Gottes Schöpfung äußere
sich in einer Pluralität von Kulturen, Zivilisationen, Sprachen und Völkern, die eine
„Quelle des Reichtums darstellen und nie Ursache von Spannung und Konflikt werden
dürfen“. Zum Thema Religionsfreiheit heißt es: „Aufrichtige Nächstenliebe schließt
den Respekt gegenüber der Person und ihrer oder seiner Entscheidung in Sachen der
Gewissens- und Religionsfreiheit ein.“ Sie umfasse das Recht von Individuen und Gemeinschaften,
ihre Religion privat und öffentlich zu praktizieren. Auch religiöse Minderheiten müssten
in ihrer Überzeugung und Religionsausübung respektiert werden.
Zugleich kündigte
die Konferenz die Errichtung eines Ständigen Katholisch-Muslimischen Komitees an,
das aktuelle Streitfragen überprüfen und ein zweites Treffen dieser Art vorbereiten
soll. Dieses solle in zwei Jahren in einem mehrheitlich muslimischen Land stattfinden.
Genaue Einzelheiten über die Einrichtung dieses Komitees sind aber noch nicht abgesprochen.
An
der Vorstellung des Abschlussdokuments in der Päpstlichen Universität Gregoriana nahmen
auch zahlreiche beim Vatikan akkreditierte Diplomaten teil. Der katholische Theologe
Joseph Maila vom Institut Catholique in Paris bezeichnete die Konferenz als „historisch“.
Ingrid Mattson von der US-Muslim-Association meinte: „Gott hatte seine Hand über diesem
Treffen.“ Ausgangspunkt der Beratungen war gewesen: „Gottesliebe – Nächstenliebe“.
Der Papst hatte mit seiner umstrittenen Regensburger Rede im September 2006 den Prozess
ausgelöst, der zum neuen, hochrangigen katholisch-islamischen Dialog führte. Am Donnerstag
Mittag empfing Benedikt XVI. die Teilnehmer des Forums in Audienz.
(rv/kna
07.11.2008 sk)
Wir veröffentlichen hier die Abschlußerklärung des Katholisch-Islamischen
Forums in englischer Sprache und mit der Liste aller Unterzeichner.
First Seminar
of the Catholic-Muslim Forum Rome, 4-6 November 2008
Final Declaration
The
Catholic-Muslim Forum was formed by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
and a delegation of the 138 Muslim signatories of the open letter called A Common
Word, in the light of the same document and the response of His Holiness Benedict
XVI through his Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Its first Seminar
was held in Rome from 4-6 November 2008. Twenty-four participants and five advisors
from each religion took part in the meeting. The theme of the Seminar was "Love of
God, Love of Neighbour".
The discussion, conducted in a warm and convivial
spirit, focused on two great themes: "Theological and Spiritual Foundations" and "Human
Dignity and Mutual Respect". Points of similarity and of diversity emerged, reflecting
the distinctive specific genius of the two religions.
For Christians the source
and example of love of God and neighbour is the love of Christ for his Father, for
humanity and for each person. "God is Love" (1 Jn 4, 16) and “God so loved the world
that He gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life” (Jn 3,16). God’s love is placed in the human heart through the Holy
Spirit. It is God who first loves us thereby enabling us to love Him in return.
Love does not harm one's neighbour but rather seeks to do to the other what one would
want done to oneself (Cf. 1 Cor 13, 4-7). Love is the foundation and sum of all the
commandments (Cf. Gal 5, 14). Love of neighbour cannot be separated from love of
God, because it is an expression of our love for God. This is the new commandment,
"Love one another as I have loved you." (Jn 15, 12) Grounded in Christ’s sacrificial
love, Christian love is forgiving and excludes no one; it therefore also includes
one's enemies. It should be not just words but deeds (Cf. 1 Jn, 4, 18). This is
the sign of its genuineness.
For Muslims, as set out in A Common Word, love
is a timeless transcendent power which guides and transforms human mutual regard.
This love, as indicated by the Holy and Beloved Prophet Muhammad, is prior to the
human love for the One True God. A Hadith indicates that God’s loving compassion for
humanity is even greater than that of a mother for her child (Muslim, Bab al-Tawba:
21); it therefore exists before and independently of the human response to the One
who is ‘The Loving’. So immense is this love and compassion that God has intervened
to guide and save humanity in a perfect way many times and in many places, by sending
prophets and scriptures. The last of these books, the Qur’an, portrays a world of
signs, a marvellous cosmos of Divine artistry, which calls forth our utter love and
devotion, so that ‘those who have faith, have most love of God’ (2:165), and ‘those
that believe, and do good works, the Merciful shall engender love among them.’ (19:96)
In a Hadith we read that ‘Not one of you has faith until he loves for his neighbour
what he loves for himself’ (Bukhari, Bab al-Iman: 13).
Human life is a most
precious gift of God to each person. It should therefore be preserved and honoured
in all its stages.
Human dignity is derived from the fact that every human
person is created by a loving God out of love, and has been endowed with the gifts
of reason and free will, and therefore enabled to love God and others. On the firm
basis of these principles, the person requires the respect of his or her original
dignity and his or her human vocation. Therefore, he or she is entitled to full recognition
of his or her identity and freedom by individuals, communities and governments, supported
by civil legislation that assures equal rights and full citizenship.
We affirm
that God’s creation of humanity has two great aspects: the male and the female human
person, and we commit ourselves jointly to ensuring that human dignity and respect
are extended on an equal basis to both men and women.
Genuine love of neighbour
implies respect of the person and her or his choices in matters of conscience and
religion. It includes the right of individuals and communities to practice their
religion in private and public.
Religious minorities are entitled to be respected
in their own religious convictions and practices. They are also entitled to their
own places of worship, and their founding figures and symbols they consider sacred
should not be subject to any form of mockery or ridicule.
As Catholic and
Muslim believers, we are aware of the summons and imperative to bear witness to the
transcendent dimension of life, through a spirituality nourished by prayer, in a world
which is becoming more and more secularized and materialistic.
We affirm
that no religion and its followers should be excluded from society. Each should be
able to make its indispensable contribution to the good of society, especially in
service to the most needy.
We recognize that God’s creation in its plurality
of cultures, civilizations, languages and peoples is a source of richness and should
therefore never become a cause of tension and conflict.
We are convinced
that Catholics and Muslims have the duty to provide a sound education in human, civic,
religious and moral values for their respective members and to promote accurate information
about each other’s religions.
We profess that Catholics and Muslims are called
to be instruments of love and harmony among believers, and for humanity as a whole,
renouncing any oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially that committed
in the name of religion, and upholding the principle of justice for all.
We
call upon believers to work for an ethical financial system in which the regulatory
mechanisms consider the situation of the poor and disadvantaged, both as individuals,
and as indebted nations. We call upon the privileged of the world to consider the
plight of those afflicted most severely by the current crisis in food production and
distribution, and ask religious believers of all denominations and all people of good
will to work together to alleviate the suffering of the hungry, and to eliminate its
causes.
Young people are the future of religious communities and of societies
as a whole. Increasingly, they will be living in multicultural and multireligious
societies. It is essential that they be well formed in their own religious traditions
and well informed about other cultures and religions.
14.We have agreed to
explore the possibility of establishing a permanent Catholic-Muslim committee to coordinate
responses to conflicts and other emergency situations and of organizing a second seminar
in a Muslim-majority country yet to be determined.
15. We look forward to
the second Seminar of the Catholic-Muslim Forum to be convened in approximately two
years in a Muslim-majority country yet to be determined.
All participants
felt gratitude to God for the gift of their time together and for an enriching exchange.
At the end of the Seminar His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI received the participants
and, following addresses by Professor Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr and H.E. Grand Mufti
Dr. Mustafa Cerić, spoke to the group. All present expressed satisfaction with the
results of the Seminar and their expectation for further productive dialogue.
H.E.
Shaykh Prof. Dr. Mustafa Cerić Grand Mufti and Head of Ulema of Bosnia and Herzegovina H.E.
Professor Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr University Professor of Islamic Studies, George
Washington University, Washington D.C, USA Prof. Dr. Suleiman Abdallah Schleifer Distinguished
Professor, The American University in Cairo; Senior Fellow, The Royal Aal Al-Bayt
Institute, Jordan Dr. Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali Chair, Association of Muslim Social
Scientists, UK; Chair, Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism, UK; Academic Advisor,
IIIT, UK Prof. Dr. Abderrahmane Taha President of the Wisdom Circle for Thinkers
and Researchers, Morocco; Director of Al-Umma Al-Wasat Magazine, International
Union of Muslim Scholars Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali Dean and Professor,
International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), International
Islamic University, Malaysia Ms. Amina Rasul-Bernardo Lead Convenor, Philippine
Council for Islam and Democracy, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Ayatollah Prof.
Dr. Seyyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Ahmad Abadi Damad Dean of Department of Islamic Studies,
The Academy of Sciences of Iran; Professor of Law and Islamic Philosophy, Tehran University;
Fellow, The Iranian Academy of Sciences, Iran; Former Inspector General of Iran H.E.
Prof. Dr. Mustapha Cherif Muslim Intellectual; Former Minister of Higher Education
and Former Ambassador, Algeria Prof. Dr. Muhammad Sirajuddin Syamsuddin President,
Central Board of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia. Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson Founder
and Director, Zaytuna Institute, CA, USA Shaykh Dr. Abdal Hakim Murad Winter (aka
Tim Winter) Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Divinity School, University
of Cambridge; Director of the Muslim Academic Trust, UK Prof. Dr. Ahmad Gianpiero
Vincenzo President of the Association of Italian Muslim Intellectuals, Professor
of Confessional Laws, Federico II University, Naples, Italy Prof. Dr. Aref Ali
Nayed Former Professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies
(Rome); Former Professor at International Institute for Islamic Thought and Civilization
(ISTAC, Malaysia); Senior Advisor to the Cambridge Interfaith Program at the Faculty
of Divinity in Cambridge, UK Professor Tariq Ramadan European Muslim Network
(EMN), Brussels Prof. Dr. Ingrid Mary Mattson Professor of Islamic Studies
and Christian-Muslim Relations and Director, Islamic Chaplaincy Program, Hartford
Seminary; President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), USA Imam Yahya
Sergio Yahe Pallavicini Vice President of CO.RE.IS., Italy, Chairman of ISESCO
Council for Education and Culture in the West, Advisor for Islamic Affairs of the
Italian Minister of Interior. Prof. Dr. H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal
(Delegation Co-ordinator) Personal Envoy and Special Advisor of H.M. King
Abdullah II; Chairman of the Board of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic
Thought, Jordan
Dr. Adnane Mokrani Professor at the Institute for the Study
of Religions and Cultures, The Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome) Dr. Mohamed
Bechari President, Federal Society for Muslims in France; General Secretary of
the European Islamic Conference (EIC), France; Member of the International Fiqh Academy Mr.
Sohail Nakhooda (Official Archivist) Editor-in-Chief, Islamica Magazine, Jordan Dr.
Ibrahim Kalin (Delegation Spokesman) Director, SETA Foundation, Ankara, Turkey;
Asst. Prof. Georgetown University, USA Shaykh Habib Faisal Al Kaff Saudi Arabia Seyed
Javad Khoei Secretary-General, Al-Khoei International Foundation
Advisor Mr.
Lutfullah Goktas (Advisor) Expert, Muslim - Christian Relations, Rome