ninme

Zenit - Vatican Unease Over Islamic Countries: Clear Talk About Problems Facing Christians

What should the Church do in the face of these difficulties? Archbishop Lajolo outlined recommendations:

• Faced with Islam the Church is called to live its own identity to the full, without backing down and by taking clear and courageous positions to affirm Christian identity. Radical Islamists, the prelate warned, take advantage of every sign they interpret as weakness.
• We should also be open to dialogue, whether with individual nations or within the United Nations or other organizations.
• An underlying problem in dealing with Islamic nations is the lack of separation between religion and the state. Part of the dialogue with Islamic religious and political authorities should be aimed at helping to develop a separation between these two spheres.
• A particularly sensitive point is that of respect for minorities and for human rights, especially religious rights. The Holy See will continue to speak out at international meetings for the human rights of migrants. For its part the international community should ensure that humanitarian organizations do not unduly pressure recipients of aid to change religion.
• The Holy See will continue to declare its firm opposition to all attempts to exploit religion by using it to justify terrorism and violence.
• The protection of Christians in Islamic countries is particularly difficult in the area ranging from Turkey to the Middle East. Solutions must be found for the many Christians who flee their country of residence in search of safety.
• Muslims who live in predominantly Christian countries should be integrated into the nation.
• The Catholic media can play an important role in educating Christians, including those living in Islamic countries.
• The Roman Curia together with bishops’ conferences and local churches need to work closely together in these matters, including looking at the way to spread the Gospel in the Islamic world. This is our duty and our right, concluded Archbishop Lajolo.

My favourite cardinal:

Muslim-Catholic relations were also examined recently by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. … Dialogue between the two religions must combine both an awareness of what they have in common — and what profoundly distinguishes them. “Catholics, in order to be good dialogue-partners, must first be firmly rooted in their understanding and love of Catholicism,” the cardinal stated, “and I suspect that this is true for Muslims too.”

And lastly:

This process, the Pontiff clarified, requires reciprocity. The Christian community, for its part, must live the commandment of love taught by Christ, embracing with charity all immigrants. In turn, it is hoped that Christians living in Islamic countries will also be received well, and with respect for their religious identity. Reciprocity, it seems, is increasingly on the Vatican’s mind when it comes to relations with the Islamic world.

Hmmm.

Curtsy to Wheat & Weeds