Inauguration of KAICIID, Holy See Clarifies its motives

November 24, 2012: The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) will be inaugurated in Vienna on Monday. The Centre traces its origins to an initiative of the King of Saudi Arabia, and has three ‘Founder States’ namely, Saudi Arabia, Austria and Spain. The Holy See has welcomed the invitation to adhere to the initiative in the quality of ‘Founding Observer’. A qualified delegation of the Holy See will be present at the inauguration ceremony, revealed a communique by the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See Father Federico Lombardi on Friday.

Responding to questions raised regarding the motives and the meaning of the Holy See’s adherence to this initiative, the Press Office of the Holy See clarified:
The Centre is a new institution, the purpose of which is to foster dialogue among religions and cultures. It is important to note that the new Centre is not a proprietary institution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is rather an independent international Organisation, recognised by the United Nations, and constituted by three Founder States, two of which have centuries-old Christian traditions.

The Holy See has, therefore, an opportunity and a space for dialogue, the communique said. It is right that the Holy See should avail of the opportunity and be present, to put to use her experience and trusted expertise in the field of interreligious dialogue.

The status of Founding Observer is most apt to guarantee just such a presence, respecting the nature of the Holy See and permitting the Holy See to express her specific concerns and expectations.

The Catholic Church is present as one of the many diverse religions and religious communities of the Board of Directors, which is the motor of the Centre’s activities. Representing the Holy See shall be the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Fr. Miguel Ayuso Guixot. This constitutes an important occasion for presenting the Church’s vision: of dialogue; the human person and vocation; ethics and religion; social relations; justice and peace; all at high-level venue of culture and international cooperation.
All these most certainly took place already and continues to occur in many venues and in many different occasions. However, the variety and pluralism of today’s world call for a multiplication of both chances for and vectors of development of the active and proactive role of the Church in every possible occasion.

Naturally, the Holy See, in her role as Founding Observer, shall not fail to bring to light her concerns for the effective respect of the fundamental rights of Christians who live in countries with a Muslim majority, in order to promote authentic and integral religious liberty. The new Centre at Vienna shall offer a space capable of receiving the expressions and manifestations of the Church’s concerns in these regards, the communique added.