Joint appeal from Christian-Muslim meeting in Amman
(Vatican Radio) A meeting of Christian and Muslim leaders in the Jordanian capital
concluded on Wednesday with a joint appeal for the release of the kidnapped Nigerian
schoolgirls. Participants at the colloquium in Amman, which comes just ahead of Pope
Francis’ visit to the country, also call for greater solidarity and better religious
education for children and young people.
The two day meeting was held under
the joint patronage of Jordanian Prince El Hassan bin Talal, founder and president
of the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies, and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president
of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. In a concluding statement participants
also propose a ‘cultural Decalogue’ for all those involved in education to promote
the transmission of religious and moral values to the young generations.
At
the end of the meeting Philippa Hitchen spoke with Prince El Hassan bin Talal about
its achievements and about Pope Francis’ forthcoming visit to the region…
Listen:
Please find
below the joint appeal released at the end of the May 13th - 14th
meeting:
A JOINT APPEAL FOR MORE SOLIDARITY IN THE WORLD
Under
the joint patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal and His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis
Tauran, the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (Amman, Jordan) and the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue (Vatican City) held their Third Colloquium in
Amman from 13 to 14 May 2014, on the theme “ Meeting Current Challenges through Education”,
on the eve of the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis which is a source of hope for
all peoples of the Holy Land and the region. The meeting began with moments of
silent prayer, invoking God’s help and blessing.
The participants strongly
condemned all forms of violence, and most recently the kidnapping of the Nigerian
school girls and called for their immediate release, so that they can return to their
families and their schools. They also advocated peaceful resolutions to all ongoing
conflicts.
The discussion, which took place in an atmosphere of cordiality
and friendship, allowed the participants to agree on the following: - The fundamental
institutions for the education of children and youth are the family and the school; -
The importance of proper religious education, in particular for the transmission of
religious and moral values; - The necessary consideration of the dignity of the
human person, especially in educational institutions; - the disregard of the international
provisions aimed at guaranteeing the effective respect of fundamental human rights,
in particular religious freedom; - The most urgent challenges to meet include the
peaceful resolution of current conflicts, the eradication of poverty and the promotion
of the spiritual and moral dimension of life; - The conviction that religion is
not the cause of conflicts, but rather inhumanity and ignorance; consequently integral
education is essential; - Many recalled that religions, properly understood and
practiced, are not causes of division and conflicts but rather a necessary factor
for reconciliation and peace. As believers, we hope that human wisdom would always
meet the wisdom of God.
Finally, as the future of humanity is in the hands
of the young generations, we propose the following Cultural Decalogue for everyone
involved in education:
1) Never renounce intellectual curiosity; 2) Have
intellectual courage instead of intellectual cowardice; 3) Be humble and intellectually
arrogant; 4) Practice intellectual empathy instead of aclosed mindedness; 5)
Observe intellectual integrity; 6) Keep your intellectual autonomy; 7) Persevere
in the face of surrounding superficiality; 8) Trust reason; 9) Be fair-minded
and not intellectually unfair; 10) Consider pluralism as richness, not a threat.
God
willing, we will continue our fruitful dialogue through future colloquia and other
initiatives.