Pope calls on all religions to unite
Pastor Dale Morgan
Pope calls on all religions to unite*
By Philip Pullella
Reuters
Friday, July 18, 2008; 12:27 AM
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict called for all religions to unite, for
Peace and Prosperity and to resolve conflicts peacefully on Friday and
heard an Islamic leader urge Christians to overcome "misconceptions and
prejudices" of Muslims.
"In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence,
the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to
resolve conflict through peaceful means and with full regard for human
dignity," Benedict told an inter-religious meeting.
The pope, in Australia for the Church's World Youth Day, also said the
Catholic Church was open to learn from other religions, a comment seen
in the context of moves to improve relations with other religions,
particularly Islam.
"The Church eagerly seeks opportunities to listen to the spiritual
experience of other religions," he said.
Catholic-Muslim relations nosedived in 2006 after Benedict delivered a
lecture in Regensburg, Germany, that was taken by Muslims to imply that
Islam was violent and irrational.
Muslims around the world protested and the pope sought to make amends
when he visited Turkey's Blue Mosque and prayed towards Mecca with its Imam.
Sheikh Mohamadu Saleem, executive member of the Australian National
Imams Council, told the pope:
"Muslims should become more inclusive and universal in their
understanding of their religions. At the same time, significant segments
of the Christian and other religious communities should overcome their
misconceptions and prejudices of Islam and Muslims."
"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," Saleem said.
THE STING OF REGENSBURG
After the fallout from the Regensburg speech, 138 Muslim scholars and
leaders wrote to the German-born pontiff and other Christian leaders
last year, saying "the very survival of the world itself" may depend on
dialogue between the two faiths.
In March, the Vatican and Muslim leaders agreed to establish a permanent
official dialogue, known as "The Catholic-Muslim Forum," to improve
often difficult relations.
Saleem said he agreed with youths at the meeting in Sydney who have been
saying "Let us promote fundamentalism of love, instead of fundamentalism
of hatred."
Asked by a reporter after the meeting if the sting of the pope's
Regensburg speech was still there, Saleem said: "It is unfair to call
Islam a violent religion."
Relations between Australia's small Muslim community and the largely
Christian population have been strained since the September 11, 2001
attacks in the United States and the Iraq War, with Australia only
recently withdrawing its troops from Iraq.
Race riots erupted at Sydney's Cronulla Beach in December 2005 as
residents attacked anyone of Middle East appearance, believing they were
Muslims intent on taking over their beach.
In late 2007 two pigs' heads were rammed on to metal stakes and an
Australian flag draped between them on the site of a planned Muslim
school on Sydney's outskirts. The plan was abandoned after protests by
thousands of residents.
In his address to the German pope, Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence told that his
grandparents had to flee Berlin 70 years ago and that he had lost many
family members in the Holocaust.
Lawrence told the pope that the Jewish community particularly
appreciated the late Pope John Paul's acknowledgement that anti-Semitism
was "a sin with no place in Catholicism, no place in civilization."
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters the pope was
very happy the reception he has received in Australia.
(Additional reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by David Fogarty)