Cardinal Tauran to strengthen interfaith relations in UK

(Vatican Radio) The president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, travels to London on Wednesday for a visit aimed at “affirming and strengthening the good interreligious relations” in the UK. The five day visit, which includes a trip to Birmingham on Saturday, will be focused on meetings with the Sikh, Jain and Hindu communities, as well as a broader interfaith event in Westminster Cathedral Hall on Thursday entitled ‘Together in prayer for peace’.
Accompanying the cardinal throughout the visit will be the head of the interfaith relations office for the bishops of England and Wales, Archbishop Kevin McDonald. He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the importance of these interfaith encounters, just three weeks after the murder of an off-duty British soldier by two Muslim extremists in the East London borough of Woolwich….

Listen:

“I was in Woolwich 2 weeks after that terrible incident….they invited a group of religious leaders to come to the mosque…..we joined them towards the end of Friday prayers... then we all went up to the place where Drummer Lee Rigby had been killed and we laid a wreath there that simply said ‘Peace’. What came out of that was a very strong sense of the need for religious leaders to stand together in solidarity in their rejection of violence and commitment to peace…..

I think the difficulty is that when the memory of tragedy fades, people then can go back to their own ways of thinking. What I’m hoping – and what I think the cardinal’s visit will help bring about – is a changed kind of relationship between religions in this country, one in which a spirit of friendship, solidarity and common cause is not just an occasional politeness but becomes a new kind of culture…

I worked in Rome for 8 years under John Paul II’s extraordinary ministry and what was very noticeable was that he carried out this huge evangelization campaign and he was also absolutely involved in dialogue. It was clear from his ministry and his understanding of the nature and identity of the Catholic Church that they are both inextricably connected……the Assisi meeting helped us to understand our identity as the Catholic Church and the meaning of the ministry of reconciliation entrusted to the Catholic Church…

Could we do more? Yes and I think this visit will be a stimulus to the Catholic community as much as anybody else – that’s certainly my hope”