2014-11-13 13:18:00

Jordan’s Prince El Hassan bin Talal to return to Vatican for interfaith talks


(Vatican Radio) Jordan’s Prince El Hassan bin Talal will be coming to the Vatican in December with a delegation of Muslim leaders to discuss initiatives in interfaith dialogue. In Part II of a two part interview with Vatican Radio, His Royal Highness said he thinks the next Vatican meeting "should focus on international citizenship.”  That’s something, he noted, which can mean different things to people in the West and to people in the Middle East.  “After all,” he says, “if you can be a German and a Bavarian and a European, why can’t you be an Arab and a Baghdadi and an Iraqi?” 

Listen to Part II of Tracey McClure's interview with HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal:

 

If the theme of international citizenship is indeed taken up at the meeting under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, participants are likely to reexamine the Middle East’s Catholic Bishops’ call for equal citizenship for the region’s Christians – an appeal launched at their 2010 Synod in the Vatican.

Asked if it is possible for Christians in the region to aspire to equal rights and to full religious freedom, including one’s right to change his or her religion, the Prince said, “if we cannot implement these justifiable hopes then we have no future.” 

He reflected, “we all talk about ‘internet’ – what about the ‘inner-net’ of building a new understanding of the rights and responsibilities of men and women?  There, I think it’s a question of creating citizenship for a region.”  If a region “so prosperous with trillions of dollars” had the will, he added, “to recognize the importance of regional stabilization,” it “would encourage addressing all of these issues.”  Alas, he lamented, cyclical wars have prevented this from happening.

Over two millennia, Christians in the Middle East have helped contribute to “an ethic of respect for the centrality of human dignity,” he said.  The Abrahamic faith, “whether Judaism, Christianity or Islam,” he noted, can be seen as “a continuum.”  But, he observed, “What has also been contributed is conflict and war.”

Preferring not to speak of “Holy Wars” as such,  the Prince reflected “there is nothing holy about war.”  And, “if you study the points of convergence and divergence between our religions you will find that the periods of peace have been far longer than the periods of conflict.”

He noted that the three monotheistic faiths have different beliefs and texts, reflecting freedom of worship or textual belief – but texts, he noted, “do not enter into dialogue.”

“What is important is that each of these religions believes in one way or another in the Golden Rule or in basically ‘doing unto others as you would expect them to do unto you.’”

“The humanity of this region has to be taken into consideration,” he said, suggesting that interfaith relations also hinge on modern day sociopolitical realities.  “Our problem is not with religion in the last century and a half.  Our problem is with oil, and gas and strategic waterways,” and the region’s wealth, he stressed.  “And very little consideration has been given to people.”

Prince El Hassan noted that previous interfaith meetings have focused on religion and violence, but he observed that “a lot” more could still be done “in terms of post-stress disorder which has affected the lives of many, many children – who if not corrected with a better bedside manner – are going to grow up in a violent environment.”

Over and above questions of security and immigration, His Royal Highness challenged the region’s political authorities to work for justice. “National and short-sited policies” regarding the availability of food and water, he stressed, are also a concern that must find concrete regional responses.  “Water wars, for example,” he warned, “have already taken place and will take place on a grander scale if we don’t avoid them.”

Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Tracey McClure who was on a visit to Amman to see Caritas Jordan’s outreach programs for more than 1.5 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees, Prince El Hassan said interfaith dialogue is enriched by learning from the “other.”

“We have taken on board the whole spectrum of religion and education at different levels and I personally believe in studying by analogy,” said His Royal Highness.  “I believe that there are good examples of humanitarian relief work for example, that are being done at the moment by Caritas and by many others which I think are worth studying and competing with as we compete to do good works in bad times.”

Recent clashes between Palestinians and Israelis surrounding the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and last summer’s Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas are another source of concern for His Royal Highness.  Jordan’s Royal Family is morally responsible for Al Aqsa, one of Islam’s holiest sites. In response to the Jerusalem tensions, Amman last week recalled its ambassador from Israel. Jordan is also home to millions of Palestinians who fled the conflicts of 1948 and 1967.   Prince El Hassan urged that “the conversation between representatives of the three faiths” regarding the management of holy spaces in Jerusalem be taken “to another level.”

For the ongoing violence to end, he proposed the setting-up of a “regional peace congress” capable of effecting a “stabilization process” as an alternative to the sort of ad hoc initiatives launched in response to the region’s emerging crises.

The media also plays a part in the building of a more peaceful region, he observed. “I think media outlets should be talking not of horror and sensation alone, but helping in waging peace.”

The region, he said, “is at a crossroads; either towards pluralism and the discussion of human and civil rights across the board, or an accepting of the fact that there is going to be another thirty year war possibly, and what will be left then?”

“I wanted to see this region,” concluded Prince El Hassan, “playing the gravitational role that it did in the time of the great messages of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – messages that share peace as a common denominator.”








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