SYDNEY — In a move seen as aiming to improve strained relations with Muslims, Pope Benedict XVI said on Friday, July 18, that the Catholic Church was open to learn from other faiths.
“The Church eagerly seeks opportunities to listen to the spiritual experience of other religions,” he said told an inter-religious meeting.
Catholic-Muslim relations strained after delivering a lecture in Germany in September 2006, quoting a 14th century Byzantine emperor that everything Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) brought was evil and inhuman.
The lecture triggered criticism from Muslim countries, scholars and intellectuals straining ties between the Vatican and the Muslim world.
The pontiff has repeatedly said the words did not reflect his personal views but stopped short of a clear apology to Muslims.
Benedict, the leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, said that religion has a special role in maintaining peace and uniting people.
“A harmonious relationship between religion and public life is all the more important at a time when some people have come to consider religion as a cause of division rather than a force for unity.
“In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity.”
Benedict arrived in Australia on Sunday, July 13, for the Church’s World Youth Day, which ends on Sunday with a papal mass which is expected to draw 500,000 people.
Prejudice
Australian Muslim leader Mohamadu Saleem called on Catholics to overcome their misconceptions and prejudice of Islam and Muslims.
“It is unfair to call Islam a violent religion,” said Saleem, executive member of the Australian National Imams Council.
“Muslims should become more inclusive and universal in their understanding of their religion. At the same time, significant segments of the Christian and other religious communities should overcome their misconceptions and prejudices of Islam and Muslims.”
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said Wednesday, July 15, drew fire from politicians and Christian leaders for saying that some parts of the Christian religion is “difficult, sometimes offensive, to Muslims.”
Williams also spoke critically of Christianity’s history of violence, harsh punishments and abandonment of peaceful principles.
“If Muslims, Christians and other faith communities reach out to one another and build bridges rather than erect barriers, the whole of humanity will rejoice forever,” said Saleem.
A galaxy of prominent Muslim scholars and interfaith experts issued in February an open letter for the world’s Jewish community calling for a dialogue to improve relations between Jews and Muslims who have common ground of shared beliefs.
In March, the Vatican and Muslim leaders agreed to establish a permanent official dialogue to improve their strained relations.
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