Did you know that a newly formed Catholic-Muslim Forum was established this week as a result of a meeting of Catholic and Muslim representatives who gathered at the Vatican this week for a three-day seminar? The forum, made up of 29 members of each creed, was formed by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
Surely you remember the big flap when Pope Benedict XVI raised the issue in 2007 of using religion to spread violence. It was the famous speech at Regensburg, Germany, when the Pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who, back during the Middle Ages, was engaged in dialogue with a Muslim leader. The emperor described Islam as a violent religion. By quoting this figure from the past, a nerve was hit, to put it mildly.
In response 138 Muslim leaders sent an open letter to Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders in October 2007 asking for dialogue. That dialogue happened this week, and the newly established forum is one result of the three day event.
At the end of the three day meeting the group met with the Pope. Here is some of what he said:
I am well aware that Muslims and Christians have different approaches in matters regarding God. Yet we can and must be worshippers of the one God who created us and is concerned about each person in every corner of the world. Together we must show, by our mutual respect and solidarity, that we consider ourselves members of one family: the family that God has loved and gathered together from the creation of the world to the end of human history.
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