Christians in the Holy Land

International Conference on Christians in the Holy Land, Lambeth Palace, London, 18-19 July 2011

By sending me to you Pope Benedict XVI manifests his deep interest in this conference and, having had the privilege of being a member of the Papal Suite during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 2009, I can remember the impact of his farewell speech at Tel Aviv airport when he pleaded for a lasting peace which can only rest on justice, genuine reconciliation and healing.  But he did not hesitate also to state that one of the saddest sights of his pilgrimage was the Wall.

During these two days of exchange, I think that everybody here is convinced that if a wall can protect, it also divides and makes suspicion and ignorance grow.

So it is important that Christians in particular who are the disciples of the One who broke down “the barrier of hostility” to quote Saint Paul (Eph 2.14), should be in a condition to freely contribute to harmony and dialogue in the Israeli and Palestinian societies.

But unfortunately we have to recognize that the situation of Christians in the Holy Land, like in other Middle East countries, is marked by precariousness.  We must remember that the political evolution of the last 50 years have made the presence and the leadership of Christians fragile: revolutions and wars have contributed to weaken the Christian communities and favoured the emigration of many families.

What we have to avoid is that the Holy Land becomes an archaeological and historical site to be visited like the Coliseum in Rome.  For us Christians the Holy Land is the land of God's revelation, the place where Jesus lived, died and was resurrected.  We cannot even think that Bethlehem or the Holy Sepulcher should become museums with entrance tickets and guides who explain beautiful legends.  For us the Holy Places, the shrines, are much more than stones.  The Holy Places are living testimonies which have around them a population, families with their schools, their cultural patrimony, their languages, their folklore, their artisans, handicrafts as well as hospitals, etc.

We have been repeating for years that we are a Christian minority in the Holy Land and in the Arab world.  I think it is enough to repeat such evidence.  We are a minority, but we are a minority which matters.  I think of our schools, universities and hospitals which welcome everybody, regardless of his or her religion.

Today the time has come to reflect on the place and the mission of Christian communities in the Holy Land and in the Middle East. 

First of all, our Christian brothers and sisters of that part of the world have to realize that they have a certain peculiarity, I should say a certain dignity: they all belong to apostolic churches.  Missionaries from Rome or Constantinople did not bring the Christian faith there.  Those communities have been built on the faith of the apostles.  They are apostolic communities in the deepest sense of the word.  Their practice comes through the faith of the apostles; this is their identity.

Their liturgical patrimony is of an exceptional value.  (Let us mention by the way that in many Oriental Churches the Eucharistic Prayer is said in the language spoken by Jesus.)  It is important not to make of this rich heritage something we keep in a safe.There is a tendency to transform our Christian communities into cultural communities.

Secondly, Christians in the Holy Land and in the Middle East, are Arabs.  They have been in that part of the world much before the Muslims.  They are not asking asylum, they are rather at home. Our Christian brothers and sisters speak Arabic and for example, many Christians have contributed to the rebirth of Arabic literature at the end of the 19th century.I remember that when I was serving in the Nunciature in Beirut at the time of the civil war (1979—1983), despite the bombing of the Christian part of Beirut the Pauline fathers continued to print the Koran in the Arabic language.

Arab Christians are a gift to the societies because they bring cultural openness, a sense of the dignity of the human person and particularly of women; a conception of freedom which harmonizes rights and privileges and a conception of political society which can lead to democracy.

Christians have the vocation to be a bridge.  Then the question is not how the Christians are going to survive in the Holy Land and the Middle East, but how they are ready to be witnesses to their faith.  I think that many Muslims are worried about the future of Christians in that region, because they know that Christians can help them to understand modernity and how to reconcile diversity and unity.

The Christians have been in the Holy Land without interruption for centuries.  They have enjoyed national and international rights.We cannot neglect the importance of a solution of the juridical status of the most significant part of Jerusalem, that is to say where the main Holy Places of the three monotheistic religions are (practically the city intra muros).  You know that the Holy See is in favor of a special status, internationally guaranteed, in order to preserve the uniqueness and sacredness of that part of the city.

For Christians, Jerusalem has a special significance.  First of all, it contains the most precious places where Jesus lived.  Secondly, it is the city with an ongoing presence of a Christian community.  So for the local Christians, like for the Jews and the Muslims, Jerusalem is not only a holy city, it is also their home city where they have a right to continue to live and to work.  They must be granted and have secured the most fundamental rights: freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, freedom of movement, civic and historical rights, education, hospitals, the possession of their own institutions (seminaries, universities, monasteries, etc.).  Of course, all this has to be recognized not only for Christians, but for all the inhabitants of the Holy Land.

The three monotheistic religions recognize Abraham as their father.  In spite of the fact that his heritage gives room to different interpretations, we can find a common message: to follow Abraham means not to look back, but towards the future.  Jews, Christians and Muslims must be heralds of hope.  To follow Abraham means also to be attentive to the foreigner (remember the episode at the Tree of Mamre).  To follow Abraham means never choosing to take the path that is a dead-end, but to be always a pilgrim.

Christians in the Holy Land do not pretend to be by themselves, to rule or to impose, but just to blossom where they have been planted by God, and to make their fellow citizens understand that every religion is an invitation to go along without idols, to be welcoming to newness, and to be always capable of solidarity.

Since Cain and Abel, exclusivism and the desire for security has always been in the heart of man.  But history like religions teach us hat there is only one future: a shared future.  What is important is not to stop but rather to continue our dialogue, our pilgrimage towards the truth, with the conviction that “it is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult”.  You will have recognized a quotation from the Roman philosopher Seneca.  So let us follow his advice: Let us dare.

Homily at the Jeoldu-san Korean Martyrs’ Shrine
Seoul, Korea

May 26, 2011
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran

In this shrine everything speaks of testimony. We are reminded that to be a Christian has never been easy and will never be easy!

I am particularly moved to be here today, because, among the Korean martyrs, a French missionary from my diocese of origin (Bordeaux), Louis Beaulieu, is buried. 

Having heard the Acts of the Apostles and knowing the history of the Korean martyrs, we understand better that the Church is not an ordinary association. She is a communion, opened to all generations, cultures, peoples. She is the place where God is always present, a community where we have our spiritual roots. 

When we look for the secret of a coherent Christian life like the one of the martyrs, we have to remember Jesus's words “remain in my love ... so that my own joy be in you and your joy be complete”. 

To remain in Jesus’ love means to have the courage 

·      to say no to evil and not to be egoistical; 

·      to resist being compromised and to be honest in every occasion; 

·      to be ready to be different for the sake of Jesus Christ, when those around you seem to have an easier life without asking too many difficult questions; 

We cannot forget that the light of the Gospel has been handed to you by ordinary Christian men and women. They were the Church as you are, the Church today, because we are united to Christ and to the apostles with Peter as their leader. 

Let us help each other in giving an attractive appearance to the Church of Christ, of which we are in some way the features of the face. 

We are entrusted with God's honor! Non- Christian judge Christ and his Church according to what we are, say and do. What a great responsibility! 

It is why at the end of the Mass I shall pray for you with these words: may these mysteries give us new purpose and bring us to a new life in You.

Yes, we need the strength which comes from the highest to be like the Korean martyrs, coherent and contagious: our hope and our consolation is to know that God loves us first! 

Encounter with Religious Leaders of South Korea
 Apostolic Nunciature
 Tuesday, 24 May 2011

“Religions and Conviviality in the Midst of Diversity”
 Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran

Excellencies, Religious Leaders, Distinguished Guests!

I would like to express also my personal joy in being here for the first time as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Vatican, to visit your beautiful country and to enjoy the warmth of Korean delicate hospitality. 

On this precious occasion I would like to talk about the Role of Religions in Establishing Peaceful Conviviality in the midst of Diversity.

 We live and develop in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. To say this is to state the obvious. There is no religiously homogenous society. In Europe, and it is also the case in your County, from kindergarten onwards, young children rub shoulders with companions of all origins and different religious affiliations. There is nothing surprising about this if one thinks of what Paul Tillich wrote: "Religion is the substance of culture"[1]. History knows no non-religious cultures!

There is a new awareness which is almost universal and that is to say that peoples of our times are convinced they belong to the same family, the human family.  They know they belong to a common humanity and sometimes such conviction can generate the feeling, the conviction that a natural religion exists without dogma or fanaticism.  

Pope Jean-Paul II's Encyclical Fides et Ratio 1affirms:  "In God there lies the origin of all things, in him is found the fullness of the mystery, and in this his glory consists; to men and women there falls the task of exploring truth with their reason, and in this their nobility consists"[2].

Pope Benedict in his speech in Regensburg on September 12th 2006, observed that: "'In the beginning was the ‘λογος’ (‘logos’). Logos means both reason and word -- a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. [...] A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion to the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures".  

Thus we are in a world in which because of material and human precariousness, the dangers of war and the hazards of the environment, in the face of the failure of the great political systems of the past century, men and women of this generation are once again asking themselves the essential questions on the meaning of life and death, on the meaning of history and of the consequences that amazing scientific discoveries might bring in their wake. It had been forgotten that the human being is the only creature who asks questions and questions himself. It is remarkable that Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council, should underline this aspect of things in its introduction: "Men look to their different religions for an answer to the unsolved riddles of human existence. The problems that weigh heavily on the hearts of men are the same today as in past ages.

What is man? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is upright behaviour, and what is sinful? Where does suffering originate, and what end does it serve? How can genuine happiness be found?"[3].

Thus, we are all condemned to dialogue. What is dialogue? It is the search for an inter-understanding between two individuals with a view to a common interpretation of their agreement or their disagreement. It implies a common language, honesty in the presentation of one's position and the desire to do one's utmost to understand the other's point of view.

Applied to interreligious dialogue, these presuppositions make it easier to understand that in the context of religion it is not a question of being "kind" to others in order to please them! Nor is it a matter of negotiation: I find the solution to problems and the matter is closed. In interreligious dialogue it is a question of taking a risk, not of giving up my own convictions but of letting myself be called into question by the convictions of another, accepting to take into consideration arguments different than my own or those of my community. All religions, each one in its own way, strive to respond to the enigmas of the human condition. Each religion has its own identity but this identity enables me to take the religion of the other into consideration. It is from this that dialogue is born. Identity, otherness and dialogue go together. But be careful: we do not say "all religions are of equal value". We say "All those in search of God have equal dignity"!

One can say that from the end of the Second Vatican Council to our own day, Catholics have moved on from tolerance to encounter, to arrive at dialogue:

-- dialogue of life: good neighbourly relations with non-Christians which encourage the sharing of joys and troubles;

-- dialogue of works: collaboration with a view to the well-being of both groups, especially people who live alone, in poverty or sickness;

-- dialogue of theological exchanges: permits experts to understand in depth the respective religious heritages;

-- dialogue of spiritualities: makes available the riches of the life of prayer of both to all, in both groups;

Interreligious dialogue therefore mobilizes all those who are on their way towards God or towards the Absolute.

Believers who carry on this kind of dialogue do not pass unnoticed. They are a society's wealth. Since citizens who adhere to a religion are the majority, there is a "religious fact" that is essential, to the extent that all religious faith is practised in the heart of a community (the "confessions")! By their number, by the length of their traditions, by the visibility of their institutions and their rites, believers are present and can be identified. They are appreciated or they are opposed, but they never leave one indifferent, which encourages their leaders to get along with other communities of believers without losing their identity and to meet each other without antagonism. Civil authorities must only take note of the religious fact, watch in order to guarantee the effective respect for freedom of conscience and religion, and only intervene if this freedom is damaging to the freedom of non-believers or disturbs public order and health.

But more positively, it is always in the interest of leaders of societies to encourage interreligious dialogue and to draw on the spiritual and moral heritage of religions for a number of values likely to contribute to harmony, to encounters between cultures and to the consolidation of the common good. Moreover all religions, in different ways, urge their followers to collaborate with all those who endeavour to:

-- assure respect for the dignity of the human person and his fundamental rights;

-- develop a sense of brotherhood and mutual assistance;

-- draw inspiration from the "know-how" of communities of believers who, at least once a week, gather together millions of widely differing people in the context of their worship in authentic spiritual communion;

-- help the men and women of today to avoid being enslaved by fashion, consumerism and profit alone.

 Unfortunately, however, other factors contribute to fostering a fear of religions:

-- the fact that we are very often ignorant of the content of other religions;

-- the fact that we have not met the believers of other religions;

-- our reticence in confronting other believers for the simple reason that we have not very clear ideas about our own religion!

-- and then, of course, the acts of violence or terrorism perpetrated in the name of a religion.

And, further, the difficulties encountered in practising their faith by believers belonging to minority groups in countries where a majority religion enjoys a privileged status because of history or law.

In order to remedy this situation it is necessary to:

-- have a clear-cut spiritual identity: to know in whom and in what one believes;

-- consider the other not as a rival, but as a seeker of God;

-- to agree to speak of what separates us and of the values that unite us.

For example if we consider the relationship of Christianity with Buddhism we can find many points of converging convictions as we read in the Declaration Nostre Aetatae:

“Buddhism, in its various forms, realizes the radical insufficiency of this changeable world; it teaches a way by which men, in a devout and confident spirit, may be able either to acquire the state of perfect liberation, or attain, by their own efforts or through higher help, supreme illumination.” (N. 2)

I feel the need to indicate also some concrete areas of life where Christians and Buddhists can contribute together effectively to the common good of society:

-- First, by witnessing to a life of prayer, both individual and communal, recalling that "Man does not live on bread alone". In our world today it is a must to stress and to show the necessity of an interior life.

-- Secondly, Christians and Buddhists faithful to their spiritual commitments can help to understand better that freedom of religion means much more than to have a Church or a Temple at their disposal (this is obvious and the minimum one can ask for) but it is also to have the possibility to take part in public dialogue through culture (of schools, universities) and also through political and social responsibilities in which believers must be models.

-- Thirdly, Together Christians and Buddhists must not hesitate to defend the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the family.

-- Fourthly, They should not refrain from uniting their efforts fighting against illiteracy and disease.

-- Fifthly, They have the common responsibility to provide moral formation for youth.

-- Finally, they must be peacemakers and teach the pedagogy of peace in the family, in the church and in temples, at school and at university.

Such a context is favourable for calmly tackling ancient, thorny "subjects": the question of the human person's rights; the principle of freedom of conscience and of religion; reciprocity with regard to places of worship.

Worth reiterating, what engenders fear is above all a lack of knowledge of the other. It is necessary for us to first become acquainted with one another in order to love one another and to collaborate! This is God's will. 

Finally, I should say that believers of all religions are heralds of a two-fold message:

1. Only God is worthy of adoration. Therefore all the idols made by men (wealth, power, appearance, hedonism) constitute a danger for the dignity of the human person, God's creature.

2. In God's sight, all men and women belong to the same race, to the same family. They are all called to freedom and to encounter Him after death.

If I may say so, believers are prophets of hope. They do not believe in fate. They know that gifted by God with a heart and intelligence, they can with His help, change the course of history in order to orientate their life according to the project of the Creator: that is to say, make of humanity an authentic family of which each one of us is a member. 

But having said that, we must be humble. We have not explained God! We have to stop on the threshold of mystery, "the Mystery of God where man is grasped instead of grasping, where he worships instead of reasoning, where he himself is conquered, instead of conquering" (Karl Rahner).

Thank you!

[1] Paul Tillich, in Théologie de la culture, éd. Placet 1978 p. 92; [Theology of Culture, 1959].
[2] Pope Jean-Paul II, Encyclical Fides et Ratio, no. 17.

"Human and religious values shared by Christians and Muslims for a common education"

Colloquium organized jointly by PCID and Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, Jordan

Introductory Remarks by 
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran

18 May 2011

Your Excellency Dr. Abu Jaber, Director of RIIFS,
Dear Muslim and Catholic friends,

          I am pleased to welcome you all, warmly, to this second Colloquium between the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, held in the Vatican. 

          Along with H.E. Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata and Monsignor Khaled Akasheh, I recall the first Colloquium which took place in Amman in November 2009. The friendly atmosphere and the open discussions encouraged us to affirm together many important aspects regarding religion and civil society. 

          We meet here in Rome immediately after a very significant event: the beatification – a declaration of holiness – of Pope John Paul II, a pontiff who contributed so much for dialogue among believers of diverse religions, especially among Christians and Muslims. Among his many initiatives in this field, the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi in 1986 and the one in 2002 merit special mention. It would not be out of place here to mention the special significance of his visit to the Omeyyad Mosque in Damascus the 6^th May 2001: in fact, the Blessed John Paul II was the first Pope to enter a mosque. This gesture was repeated by his successor Pope Benedict XVI, in Istanbul (30 November 2006), in Amman (9 May 2009) and in Jerusalem (12 May 2009). I am hopeful that we all, Muslims and Christians, will keep this legacy of the ‘Pope of dialogue’ for peace in the world dear to us to promote fraternity among all the members of the human family.

          The theme of our colloquium, as we are all aware of, is of great importance: education, the values our respective religious traditions share and the common action we can make together.

          In a letter addressed to the Diocese of Rome on January 21^st, 2008 on the urgent task of education, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI said: “We all have at heart the welfare of the people we love, especially our children, adolescents and young people. We know in fact that the future of our city [Rome] depends on them. We cannot therefore not be solicitous for the education of new generations, for their ability to move in life and to discern good from evil, for their health not only physical but also moral.”

          The challenge of education is, first of all, at the personal level: we should put into practice what we teach, what we ask our children to do. We therefore need to be authentic to be credible. This is also true in the field of interreligious relations: the attitude of children to the other depends much on the example they receive from us, their parents or teachers.

          Another challenge in the field of education is that of the formation of identities and the attitude towards the distinct identity of others, as a result mainly through the teaching of religion and history. I am sure that you will agree with me on the necessity of being well rooted in one’s own religious and cultural tradition besides being, at the same time, open to others’ identities. 

          I conclude by invoking abundant blessings from the All-Loving and the Almighty God on us, our families, our respective countries and especially on our deliberations here hoping and praying that all that we do may be useful for us and for the communities we belong to.

Inter-religious dialogue,
the source of harmony, unity and the good of society
His Eminence Jean-Louis Tauran,
President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue
Vatican City
April 27, 2011
Bangabandhu International Conference Center
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Honorable Minister of Religious Affairs, Honorable Minister of Cultural Affairs, Your Excellencies, Ambassadors of various countries, distinguished speakers gathered at this table, ladies and gentlemen.

1.       I would be remiss if I did not begin this talk by thanking the organizers of this event for inviting me to participate in this Conference, devoted to the question of inter-religious relations.  In recent years, this area of the life of the human family has assumed a significance which is leading to many positive and constructive steps in establishing harmony among people of religion.

I am happy to say from the very beginning of this speech that Bangladesh must be considered as an example of how it is possible for people of different religions to live together, cooperate together and simply be together.

At the same time, from all the information that I have received, it appears to me that religion here is not used as an excuse for hatred, discrimination, violence or conflict.  Needless to say, it is not possible for me to enter into the reasons for this noteworthy characteristic of Bangladeshi society.  Is it based in Bangali culture, is it based in constitutional realities, is it based in the history of this country, is it based in the realm of religions themselves, and in particular in Islam as it exists and is lived here? I leave the answers to those questions to experts.

I would like those of you in the audience who are knowledgeable in these areas to pursue these interrogatives, because much can be learned from you.  Indeed, Bangladesh has acquired a great patrimony in the area of inter-religious relations which can be placed at the service of the world.

2.       Let me turn to the subject of inter-religious dialogue which should be a reality even in places where harmonious relations among people of faith do exist.  As you know, I head the Vatican department which follows, encourages and actively participates in inter-religious dialogue.  Consequently, today, I would like to offer to you some reflections about inter-religious dialogue, the source of harmony, unity and the good of society.

3.       Perhaps, some would immediately be suspect to such a topic, since in some parts of the world, religion is branded and accused as the source and the cause of intolerance and conflict.  Religion is blamed for prejudice and bigotry.  Consequently, there is the temptation to see religion as a problem. So the solution is very easy, just put religion aside and make of it a private matter, taken out of the public sphere.  On the other side, arguments are made that one religion should be imposed upon all, leaving no room for the beliefs of the minorities, creating as it were a monolithic religion within society.

Obviously, neither is a correct approach.  First, for those who wish to push religion aside and relegate it to the point of being invisible, the answer is that religion which is a reality that belongs to the human being has by its very nature a public dimension and must be visible in society.  If believers have a right to practice their faith in their respective places of worship, then they also have the right, within the basic norms and laws of society, to do works of charity, to participate in the national debate about the dignity of the human person, to propose essential values that constitute a just and civil society, and “to moralize” the national conscience.

Secondly, for those who wish to impose a religion upon all, it must be answered that there exists a fundamental right to religious freedom.  It must be recognized, as Pope Benedict XVI stated in his Message for the World Day of Peace 2011, “openness to truth and perfect goodness, openness to God, is rooted in human nature.”  In other words, the human person in its very nature is one that seeks God, the transcendent, the reality of the spiritual and therefore has the right to follow that search according to one’s conscience.  To impede that search or to coerce one to one belief is an affront to the dignity of the human person.

4.       However, I would like to suggest to you today, that when faced with such seemingly opposed views, which both deny the presence of God and the right of the person to search for God, a solution, if not the solution, is an authentic and honest inter-religious dialogue.
ForBangladesh, from what I have perceived  in preparation for this visit and during the talks which I heard yesterday at the University, the reality of inter-religious relationship has been fundamentally positive.  The Bangladeshi society, in its beginning affirmed that it would be an all-inclusive society, in which every person of any religion would have a space in this new country.   Consequently, the founding fathers of this Nation envisioned a pluralistic society, with a spirit of openness, based on the fundamental right of religious freedom.
Inter-religious dialogue should be understood as an essential ingredient in preserving a pluralistic society by allowing religion, or rather religions, to be present and active in the very soul of the Nation.

Inter-religious dialogue appears to be an element of harmonious relationship of different religions and spiritualities, because inter-religious dialogue takes as its starting point not a relationship between institutions of religions, but people who believe differently.  The starting point is not necessarily theological, doctrinal or institutional, and its goal is certainly not the conversion of the other to my religion.

Rather, inter-religious dialogue tries to obtain a better reciprocal knowledge about other beliefs in order to arrive at a harmonious conviviality. In this regard, Pope Benedict XVI has been emphasizing from the very beginning of his Pontificate the importance of the “formation” in the field of inter-religious dialogue, so that the promoters of inter-religious dialogue are well “formed” in their respective religions and well “informed” about others.
In that way, we can discover the richness of each other’s search for and hopefully discovery of God and bring the depth of that insight and revelation to the table of the pluralistic public debate in order to see what we can do together to improve society, to assist it in its growth towards the total development of the human person, and to assure that the universal rights of the human person are safeguarded.  There is no doubt that when people of faith stand together and especially when religious leaders speak together society as a whole benefits.
Indeed, believers have a common religious approach dealing with the social aspects of life, namely,

-the openness of the transcendent dimension of the human person;
-respect of human life;
-defense of the family, based on the union of man and woman;
-respect of fundamental rights coming from the natural law enshrined within the hearts of all human beings;
-preservation of the environment;
-a holistic development of the human person and so on.

Moreover, when believers and people of good will sit together even more common approaches and convictions are discovered, and the ultimate winner is always society.

5.       Yet, inter-religious dialogue is not a mere social phenomenon, that is, getting people to find common ground, or something like political compromises, or even just ignoring differences so that we can be at peace.

There is an extremely positive and indeed essential theological basis for inter-religious dialogue, that is, believers in spite of their doctrinal differences and diverse religious practices can nonetheless be united in fighting the emergence of a world without God which is becoming in some parts  a world against God.

The fundamental theological root of this approach is that we are all creatures of the one God and therefore brothers and sisters. Consequently, God is working in everyone of us.  Yes, God in the great expanse of his existence is working in each and everyone of us and we must say “differently”. Just consider the teaching of our faiths in how to seek God and to find God, and how to explore the mystery of a divine reality.  We are all doing the same, searching and yearning for God, the greatest mystery of our life.

Certainly, we can even help each other to deepen our respective spiritual identity, to purify our behavior and to go nearer to God.

Consequently, inter-religious dialogue is theologically based in our common seeking of God and then to recognize the positive values of another religion which does not mean to abdicate our own religious convictions, but rather to improve them and to discover what we have in common.  The communalities unite, rather than divide

The teachings of the Catholic Church are very clear on this matter.  In the document of the Second Vatican Council, which is one of the highest teaching instruments of the Church, Nostra Aetate we find this affirmation:

“Religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men” (NA, 2)
In other words, the Catholic Church recognizes that there is a part of the truth and sanctity in other religions.

So we begin by listening, by trying to comprehend and understand and by testifying to our convictions that we are all searchers of the truth, which is ultimately found in God.

6.       Obviously, some difficulties remain. Yet, generally speaking the climate of inter-religious relations has positively changed. More and more, we are witnessing a desire for these dialogues.  I am even aware that many have been taking place here.  Common declarations are becoming more and more specific leading to greater and greater understanding.

One of the great challenges that remains is to bring this positive development closer to the grass root level.  In that regard, I would like to stress a very concrete point. It is necessary to monitor books used in our schools on how they deal with religions.  Very often, at least in some parts of the world, school books portray religions in a bad light, misrepresenting their beliefs and so forth.

Even here, we ask ourselves is this the result of pure ignorance?  Perhaps, not, because misinformation can and should be objectively  rectified. Often, this is the result of prejudice against an adversary based on the erroneous assumption that someone who does not believe like me must be my enemy and consequently can be the object of violence.
The Catholic Church and the present Pope are more than ever convinced that to make mockery of religious practices, to use religion to justify violence or to exploit religion for political gain is an abuse of the very core meaning of religion.  For this reason, for example, the Holy See, through the Vatican Department that I head, did not hesitate to condemn in unqualified and unambiguous language the news of the planned burning of the book considered sacred by our Muslim brothers, expressing deep concern for such an action, calling it “an outrageous and grave gesture.”  
Those same sentiments are even more justified when learned that the burning of the Quran took place.  

Indeed, no book considered sacred, no place considered holy, no feast considered revered should ever by the object of disrespect by people of different faiths and beliefs, much more attacking people when they are gathered in worship. Such actions can only be understood as an affront to God himself.

7. Dear friends, inter-religious dialogue here in Asia, and in particular Bangladesh, should have a special place, not necessarily due to problems or terrible conflicts, although in some places that may be the case, but because there exists a true “primacy of God” in the very heart of your society.  To use the same words of Pope Benedict XVI speaking to the diplomats accredited to the Holy See in his annual state of the world address in 2009, this “primacy of God” ... “sets up a healthy order of values and grants a freedom more powerful than acts of justice”  (January 8, 2009).

Consequently and in conclusion, I would like to encourage you to continue on this fascinating adventure that you have embraced in your daily interaction of people of different faiths, preserve it, enhance it and celebrate the many fruits that come from it.

Finally, I would like to tell that on Easter Sunday before I departed fromRome, I serving His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate the Mass of Easter Sunday and to impart the Apostolate Blessing “Urbi et Orbi”  . At the end of the ceremony, the Pope, aware that I was about to leave for Bangladesh asked me to assure the people of this country of his prayers and to extend to all a special blessing from Almighty God, which I am very pleased to do right now.

The Role of Religions in Establishing Peaceful Conviviality in the midst of Diversity - Speech at International Dialogue Seminar at Dhaka University, Senate Bhavan
27 April 2011

Excellencies, Religious Leaders, distinguish guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends!

I am deeply grateful to God who has given us the opportunity to meet in this welcoming country, rich in its great variety of traditions, cultures and religions. 

I would like to express also my personal joy in being here for the first time as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Vatican, to visit this University and to be with you. The Holy See is quite aware that the Department of World Religions of this University has been working actively together with the Episcopal Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism to promote dialogue for peace and mutual understanding. Thank you for your efforts. 

On this precious occasion I would like to talk about the Role of Religions in Establishing Peaceful Conviviality in the midst of Diversity.    

We all are facing the reality that we live and develop in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. To say this is to state the obvious. There is no religiously homogenous society. In Europe, from kindergarten onwards, young children rub shoulders with companions of all origins and different religious affiliations. There is nothing surprising about this if one thinks of what Paul Tillich wrote: "Religion is the substance of culture"[1]. History knows no non-religious cultures!

Nevertheless in Europe from the eighteenth century onwards a conviction began to appear that faith is incompatible with reason. Although he was a believer, Descartes was to apply his methodical doubt to matters of faith. This current of thought was to give birth to the philosophy of the Enlightenment: reason has access to truth on its own. Natural moral standards, tolerance, deism or even, for some, atheism led to the belief that man is self-sufficient. After the considerable progress of the sciences (Newton died in 1727), the development of travel (and missions) and unresolved social crises, it seemed to many that Christianity, with its dogmas and moral teaching, did not serve progress. All people were thus considered to belong to a common humanity and, endowed with reason, easily discovered that a natural religion exists, without dogma and without fanaticism. 

The individual sufficed unto himself. There was no need to look to religion to explain man's origin, nor to await happiness beyond this earth. Thus man is placed at the centre of the world and the supernatural is eliminated. At the level of ideas, this vision of things was to lead to Scientism (all that human reason does not justify does not exist) and at the level of achievements, to the French Revolution (to organize society without God), culminating in the twentieth century with the two forms of totalitarianism (Marxism-Leninism and the Nazi ideologies).

It is very obvious that the Church contested this vision of things and maintained that to exclude the religious from reason was to amputate man, created in the image of God. Pope Jean-Paul II's Encyclical Fides et Ratio expresses it well: "In God there lies the origin of all things, in him is found the fullness of the mystery, and in this his glory consists; to men and women there falls the task of exploring truth with their reason, and in this their nobility consists"[2].

But this God whom we dismissed in the past is reappearing in public discourse today. News stands are full of books and magazines on religious subjects, esotericism and the new religions. It has been expressed as "The revenge of God" (Gilles Képel). Today, one cannot understand the world without religions. And this - for here indeed is the great paradox of the current situation - is because they are seen as a danger: fanaticism, fundamentalism and terrorism have been or still are associated with religions. Still today it is a fact that people kill for religious reasons. The reason is that religions are capable of the best as well as of the worst: they can serve holiness or alienation. They can preach peace or war. Yet it is always necessary to explain that it is not the religions themselves that wage war but rather their followers! 

Hence the need, once again, to conjugate faith with reason. For to act against reason is in fact to act against God, as Pope Benedict XVI said at the University of Regensburg on 12 September 2006: "'In the beginning was the ‘λογος’ (‘logos’). Logos means both reason and word -- a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. [...] A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion to the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures".

Thus we are in a world in which because of material and human precariousness, the dangers of war and the hazards of the environment, in the face of the failure of the great political systems of the past century, men and women of this generation are once again asking themselves the essential questions on the meaning of life and death, on the meaning of history and of the consequences that amazing scientific discoveries might bring in their wake. It had been forgotten that the human being is the only creature who asks questions and questions himself. It is remarkable that Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council, should underline this aspect of things in its introduction: "Men look to their different religions for an answer to the unsolved riddles of human existence. The problems that weigh heavily on the hearts of men are the same today as in past ages. What is man? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is upright behaviour, and what is sinful? Where does suffering originate, and what end does it serve? How can genuine happiness be found?"[3].

Thus we are all condemned to dialogue. What is dialogue? It is the search for an inter-understanding between two individuals with a view to a common interpretation of their agreement or their disagreement. It implies a common language, honesty in the presentation of one's position and the desire to do one's utmost to understand the other's point of view.

Applied to interreligious dialogue, these presuppositions make it easier to understand that in the context of religion it is not a question of being "kind" to others in order to please them! Nor is it a matter of negotiation: I find the solution to problems and the matter is closed. In interreligious dialogue it is a question of taking a risk, not of giving up my own convictions but of letting myself be called into question by the convictions of another, accepting to take into consideration arguments different than my own or those of my community. All religions, each one in its own way, strive to respond to the enigmas of the human condition. Each religion has its own identity but this identity enables me to take the religion of the other into consideration. It is from this that dialogue is born. Identity, otherness and dialogue go together. But be careful: we do not say "all religions are of equal value". We say "All those in search of God have equal dignity"!

One can say that from the end of the Second Vatican Council to our own day, Catholics have moved on from tolerance to encounter, to arrive at dialogue:

-- dialogue of life: good neighbourly relations with non-Christians which encourage the sharing of joys and troubles;

-- dialogue of works: collaboration with a view to the well-being of both groups, especially people who live alone, in poverty or sickness;

-- dialogue of theological exchanges which permits experts to understand in depth the respective religious heritages;

-- dialogue of spiritualities which makes available the riches of the life of prayer of both to all, in both groups;

Interreligious dialogue therefore mobilizes all those who are on their way towards God or towards the Absolute.

Believers who carry on this kind of dialogue do not pass unnoticed. They are a society's wealth. Since citizens who adhere to a religion are the majority, there is a "religious fact" that is essential, to the extent that all religious faith is practised in the heart of a community (the "confessions")! By their number, by the length of their traditions, by the visibility of their institutions and their rites, believers are present and can be identified. They are appreciated or they are opposed, but they never leave one indifferent, which encourages their leaders to get along with other communities of believers without losing their identity and to meet each other without antagonism. Civil authorities must only take note of the religious fact, watch in order to guarantee the effective respect for freedom of conscience and religion, and only intervene if this freedom is damaging to the freedom of non-believers or disturbs public order and health.

But more positively, it is always in the interest of leaders of societies to encourage interreligious dialogue and to draw on the spiritual and moral heritage of religions for a number of values likely to contribute to harmony, to encounters between cultures and to the consolidation of the common good. Moreover all religions, in different ways, urge their followers to collaborate with all those who endeavour to:

-- assure respect for the dignity of the human person and his fundamental rights;

-- develop a sense of brotherhood and mutual assistance;

-- draw inspiration from the "know-how" of communities of believers who, at least once a week, gather together millions of widely differing people in the context of their worship in authentic spiritual communion;

-- help the men and women of today to avoid being enslaved by fashion, consumerism and profit alone.

Unfortunately, however, other factors contribute to fostering a fear of religions:

-- the fact that we are very often ignorant of the content of other religions;

-- the fact that we have not met the believers of other religions;

-- our reticence in confronting other believers for the simple reason that we have not very clear ideas about our own religion!

-- and then, of course, the acts of violence or terrorism perpetrated in the name of a religion.

And, further, the difficulties encountered in practising their faith by believers belonging to minority groups in countries where a majority religion enjoys a privileged status because of history or law.

In order to remedy this situation it is necessary to:

-- have a clear-cut spiritual identity: to know in whom and in what one believes;

-- consider the other not as a rival, but as a seeker of God;

-- to agree to speak of what separates us and of the values that unite us.

Christians and Muslims – as an example - are aware about theological differences among them. But they are also aware about the realities which unite them and sometimes even lead them to collaboration. Just to mention some aspects:

-- Faith in the oneness of God, the Author of life and of the material world;

-- The sacred character of the human person which has permitted, for example, collaboration of the Holy See and of Muslim countries with the United Nations to prevent resolutions that damage families;

-- Vigilance to avoid symbols considered "sacred" from being made the object of public derision (Holy Scriptures, Worship Places, etc. – condemnation of the burning of Qur’an or Bible).

I feel the need, and it is useful, to indicate also, some concrete areas of life where Christians and Muslims together can contribute effectively to the common good of society:

-- First, by witnessing to a life of prayer, both individual and communal, recalling that "Man does not live on bread alone". In our world today it is a must to stress and to show the necessity of an interior life.

-- Secondly, Christians and Muslims faithful to their spiritual commitments can help to understand better that freedom of religion means much more than to have a Church or a Mosque at their disposal (this is obvious and the minimum one can ask for) but it is also to have the possibility to take part in public dialogue through culture (of schools, universities) and also through political and social responsibilities in which believers must be models.

-- Thirdly, Together Christians and Muslims must not hesitate to defend the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the family, as they did in the framework of recent meetings organized by the United Nations.

-- Fourthly, They should not refrain from uniting their efforts fighting against illiteracy and disease.

-- Fifthly, They have the common responsibility to provide moral formation for youth.

-- Finally, they must be peacemakers and teach the pedagogy of peace in the family, in the church and mosque, at school and at university.

In the "Open Letter" of the 138 Muslim leaders addressed to Christian religious leaders in 2007, it is opportunely stressed that Christian and Muslims represent 55% of the world population and consequently, if they are faithful to their own religion, they can do a lot for the common good, for peace and harmony in the society of which they are members.

Such a context is favourable for calmly tackling ancient, thorny "subjects": the question of the human person's rights; the principle of freedom of conscience and of religion; reciprocity with regard to places of worship.

Worth reiterating, what engenders fear is above all a lack of knowledge of the other. It is necessary for us to first become acquainted with one another in order to love one another and to collaborate! This is God's will. As Pope Benedict XVI said in Turkey: "We are called to work together, so as to help society to open itself to the transcendent, giving Almighty God his rightful place..." (Meeting with the President of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Conference Room of the "Diyanet", Ankara, 28 November 2006).

Finally, I should say that believers of all religions are heralds of a two-fold message:

1. Only God is worthy of adoration. Therefore all the idols made by men (wealth, power, appearance, hedonism) constitute a danger for the dignity of the human person, God's creature.

2. In God's sight, all men and women belong to the same race, to the same family. They are all called to freedom and to encounter Him after death.

If I may say so, believers are prophets of hope. They do not believe in fate. They know that gifted by God with a heart and intelligence, they can with His help, change the course of history in order to orientate their life according to the project of the Creator: that is to say, make of humanity an authentic family of which each one of us is a member. Anyway, for us Christians we must always remember Paul's exhortation in the letter to the Romans: "Let us then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another." (14:19) It is a beautiful roadmap!

But having said that, we must be humble. We have not explained God! We have to stop on the threshold of mystery, "the Mystery of God where man is grasped instead of grasping, where he worships instead of reasoning, where he himself is conquered, instead of conquering" (Karl Rahner).

Thank you!

International Dialogue Seminar at Dhaka University 
Senate Bhavan, Wednesday, 27 April 2011

“The Role of Religions in Establishing Peaceful Fraternity in the midst of Diversity”

Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran

Excellencies, Religious Leaders, distinguish guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends!

I am deeply grateful to God who has given us the opportunity to meet in this welcoming country, rich in its great variety of traditions, cultures and religions. 

I would like to express also my personal joy in being here for the first time as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Vatican, to visit this University and to be with you. The Holy See is quite aware that the Department of World Religions of this University has been working actively together with the Episcopal Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism to promote dialogue for peace and mutual understanding. Thank you for your efforts. 

On this precious occasion I would like to talk about the Role of Religions in Establishing Peaceful Conviviality in the midst of Diversity.                                                                   

We all are facing the reality that we live and develop in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. To say this is to state the obvious. There is no religiously homogenous society. In Europe, from kindergarten onwards, young children rub shoulders with companions of all origins and different religious affiliations. There is nothing surprising about this if one thinks of what Paul Tillich wrote: "Religion is the substance of culture"[1]. History knows no non-religious cultures!

Nevertheless in Europe from the eighteenth century onwards a conviction began to appear that faith is incompatible with reason. Although he was a believer, Descartes was to apply his methodical doubt to matters of faith. This current of thought was to give birth to the philosophy of the Enlightenment: reason has access to truth on its own. Natural moral standards, tolerance, deism or even, for some, atheism led to the belief that man is self-sufficient. After the considerable progress of the sciences (Newton died in 1727), the development of travel (and missions) and unresolved social crises, it seemed to many that Christianity, with its dogmas and moral teaching, did not serve progress. All people were thus considered to belong to a common humanity and, endowed with reason, easily discovered that a natural religion exists, without dogma and without fanaticism. 

The individual sufficed unto himself. There was no need to look to religion to explain man's origin, nor to await happiness beyond this earth. Thus man is placed at the centre of the world and the supernatural is eliminated. At the level of ideas, this vision of things was to lead to Scientism (all that human reason does not justify does not exist) and at the level of achievements, to the French Revolution (to organize society without God), culminating in the twentieth century with the two forms of totalitarianism (Marxism-Leninism and the Nazi ideologies).

It is very obvious that the Church contested this vision of things and maintained that to exclude the religious from reason was to amputate man, created in the image of God. Pope Jean-Paul II's Encyclical Fides et Ratio expresses it well: "In God there lies the origin of all things, in him is found the fullness of the mystery, and in this his glory consists; to men and women there falls the task of exploring truth with their reason, and in this their nobility consists"[2].

But this God whom we dismissed in the past is reappearing in public discourse today. News stands are full of books and magazines on religious subjects, esotericism and the new religions. It has been expressed as "The revenge of God" (Gilles Képel). Today, one cannot understand the world without religions. And this - for here indeed is the great paradox of the current situation - is because they are seen as a danger: fanaticism, fundamentalism and terrorism have been or still are associated with religions. Still today it is a fact that people kill for religious reasons. The reason is that religions are capable of the best as well as of the worst: they can serve holiness or alienation. They can preach peace or war. Yet it is always necessary to explain that it is not the religions themselves that wage war but rather their followers! 

Hence the need, once again, to conjugate faith with reason. For to act against reason is in fact to act against God, as Pope Benedict XVI said at the University of Regensburg on 12 September 2006: "'In the beginning was the ‘λογος’ (‘logos’). Logos means both reason and word -- a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. [...] A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion to the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures".

Thus we are in a world in which because of material and human precariousness, the dangers of war and the hazards of the environment, in the face of the failure of the great political systems of the past century, men and women of this generation are once again asking themselves the essential questions on the meaning of life and death, on the meaning of history and of the consequences that amazing scientific discoveries might bring in their wake. It had been forgotten that the human being is the only creature who asks questions and questions himself. It is remarkable that Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council, should underline this aspect of things in its introduction: "Men look to their different religions for an answer to the unsolved riddles of human existence. The problems that weigh heavily on the hearts of men are the same today as in past ages. What is man? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is upright behaviour, and what is sinful? Where does suffering originate, and what end does it serve? How can genuine happiness be found?"[3].

Thus we are all condemned to dialogue. What is dialogue? It is the search for an inter-understanding between two individuals with a view to a common interpretation of their agreement or their disagreement. It implies a common language, honesty in the presentation of one's position and the desire to do one's utmost to understand the other's point of view.

Applied to interreligious dialogue, these presuppositions make it easier to understand that in the context of religion it is not a question of being "kind" to others in order to please them! Nor is it a matter of negotiation: I find the solution to problems and the matter is closed. In interreligious dialogue it is a question of taking a risk, not of giving up my own convictions but of letting myself be called into question by the convictions of another, accepting to take into consideration arguments different than my own or those of my community. All religions, each one in its own way, strive to respond to the enigmas of the human condition. Each religion has its own identity but this identity enables me to take the religion of the other into consideration. It is from this that dialogue is born. Identity, otherness and dialogue go together. But be careful: we do not say "all religions are of equal value". We say "All those in search of God have equal dignity"!

One can say that from the end of the Second Vatican Council to our own day, Catholics have moved on from tolerance to encounter, to arrive at dialogue:

-- dialogue of life: good neighbourly relations with non-Christians which encourage the sharing of joys and troubles;

-- dialogue of works: collaboration with a view to the well-being of both groups, especially people who live alone, in poverty or sickness;

-- dialogue of theological exchanges which permits experts to understand in depth the respective religious heritages;

-- dialogue of spiritualities which makes available the riches of the life of prayer of both to all, in both groups;

Interreligious dialogue therefore mobilizes all those who are on their way towards God or towards the Absolute.

Believers who carry on this kind of dialogue do not pass unnoticed. They are a society's wealth. Since citizens who adhere to a religion are the majority, there is a "religious fact" that is essential, to the extent that all religious faith is practised in the heart of a community (the "confessions")! By their number, by the length of their traditions, by the visibility of their institutions and their rites, believers are present and can be identified. They are appreciated or they are opposed, but they never leave one indifferent, which encourages their leaders to get along with other communities of believers without losing their identity and to meet each other without antagonism. Civil authorities must only take note of the religious fact, watch in order to guarantee the effective respect for freedom of conscience and religion, and only intervene if this freedom is damaging to the freedom of non-believers or disturbs public order and health.

But more positively, it is always in the interest of leaders of societies to encourage interreligious dialogue and to draw on the spiritual and moral heritage of religions for a number of values likely to contribute to harmony, to encounters between cultures and to the consolidation of the common good. Moreover all religions, in different ways, urge their followers to collaborate with all those who endeavour to:

-- assure respect for the dignity of the human person and his fundamental rights;

-- develop a sense of brotherhood and mutual assistance;

-- draw inspiration from the "know-how" of communities of believers who, at least once a week, gather together millions of widely differing people in the context of their worship in authentic spiritual communion;

-- help the men and women of today to avoid being enslaved by fashion, consumerism and profit alone.

Unfortunately, however, other factors contribute to fostering a fear of religions:

-- the fact that we are very often ignorant of the content of other religions;

-- the fact that we have not met the believers of other religions;

-- our reticence in confronting other believers for the simple reason that we have not very clear ideas about our own religion

-- and then, of course, the acts of violence or terrorism perpetrated in the name of a religion.

And, further, the difficulties encountered in practising their faith by believers belonging to minority groups in countries where a majority religion enjoys a privileged status because of history or law.

In order to remedy this situation it is necessary to:

-- have a clear-cut spiritual identity: to know in whom and in what one believes;

-- consider the other not as a rival, but as a seeker of God;

-- to agree to speak of what separates us and of the values that unite us.

Christians and Muslims – as an example - are aware about theological differences among them. But they are also aware about the realities which unite them and sometimes even lead them to collaboration. Just to mention some aspects:

-- Faith in the oneness of God, the Author of life and of the material world;

-- The sacred character of the human person which has permitted, for example, collaboration of the Holy See and of Muslim countries with the United Nations to prevent resolutions that damage families;

-- Vigilance to avoid symbols considered "sacred" from being made the object of public derision (Holy Scriptures, Worship Places, etc. – condemnation of the burning of Qur’an or Bible).

I feel the need, and it is useful, to indicate also, some concrete areas of life where Christians and Muslims together can contribute effectively to the common good of society:

-- First, by witnessing to a life of prayer, both individual and communal, recalling that "Man does not live on bread alone". In our world today it is a must to stress and to show the necessity of an interior life.

-- Secondly, Christians and Muslims faithful to their spiritual commitments can help to understand better that freedom of religion means much more than to have a Church or a Mosque at their disposal (this is obvious and the minimum one can ask for) but it is also to have the possibility to take part in public dialogue through culture (of schools, universities) and also through political and social responsibilities in which believers must be models.

-- Thirdly, Together Christians and Muslims must not hesitate to defend the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the family, as they did in the framework of recent meetings organized by the United Nations.

-- Fourthly, They should not refrain from uniting their efforts fighting against illiteracy and disease.

-- Fifthly, They have the common responsibility to provide moral formation for youth.

-- Finally, they must be peacemakers and teach the pedagogy of peace in the family, in the church and mosque, at school and at university.

In the "Open Letter" of the 138 Muslim leaders addressed to Christian religious leaders in 2007, it is opportunely stressed that Christian and Muslims represent 55% of the world population and consequently, if they are faithful to their own religion, they can do a lot for the common good, for peace and harmony in the society of which they are members.

Such a context is favourable for calmly tackling ancient, thorny "subjects": the question of the human person's rights; the principle of freedom of conscience and of religion; reciprocity with regard to places of worship.

Worth reiterating, what engenders fear is above all a lack of knowledge of the other. It is necessary for us to first become acquainted with one another in order to love one another and to collaborate! This is God's will. As Pope Benedict XVI said in Turkey: "We are called to work together, so as to help society to open itself to the transcendent, giving Almighty God his rightful place..." (Meeting with the President of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Conference Room of the "Diyanet", Ankara, 28 November 2006).

Finally, I should say that believers of all religions are heralds of a two-fold message:

1. Only God is worthy of adoration. Therefore all the idols made by men (wealth, power, appearance, hedonism) constitute a danger for the dignity of the human person, God's creature.

2. In God's sight, all men and women belong to the same race, to the same family. They are all called to freedom and to encounter Him after death.

If I may say so, believers are prophets of hope. They do not believe in fate. They know that gifted by God with a heart and intelligence, they can with His help, change the course of history in order to orientate their life according to the project of the Creator: that is to say, make of humanity an authentic family of which each one of us is a member. Anyway, for us Christians we must always remember Paul's exhortation in the letter to the Romans: "Let us then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another." (14:19) It is a beautiful roadmap!

But having said that, we must be humble. We have not explained God! We have to stop on the threshold of mystery, "the Mystery of God where man is grasped instead of grasping, where he worships instead of reasoning, where he himself is conquered, instead of conquering" (Karl Rahner).

Thank you!

CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS, PROMOTING COMPREHENSION AND PEACE

Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends, 

I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude for the invitation extended to me to be here, at the Baitul Mukarram Mosque today, to meet you. 

We are living in a world of great paradox. On the one hand, the Western societies proclaim themselves secular and, in some countries, religion is relegated to the private domain where it is not expected to play any role in public life. But, on the other hand, religion is very much talked about. One may even say that never before has religion been placed at the centre of concern of mass media as it is today. 

Some people talk about religion not necessarily because of faith but out of fear. They look at the situation in the world today where some fundamentalists and terrorists have hijacked religion and used it to justify some of their despicable acts. The consequence is that, for many people, religion reminds them of violence and it inspires fear in them. It is, therefore, important to take note of what religious people are saying and doing. But we have to recognise that religion can lead to the best or to the worst. It depends on if it offers a project of holiness or a project of domination. 

We know that religion is not something extrinsic. The human person is a religious being. The history of civilisation gives numerous proofs of this: houses of worship, rites, statutes, etc. One’s relation with God is deep. A professor of mathematics may not be willing to die for a self-evident theorem. But all through history there is a long list of martyrs for the sake of religion.

History has shown too that religion cannot be eliminated. The totalitarian system of the last centuries tried and they did not succeed in eliminating religion[1].

We are also aware that we live in multi-religious and multi-cultural societies where we face many common challenges together. So well has Nostra Aetate[2] (NA) summarized the situation of our world today: "In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger...” (NA 1). Men are looking for answers to the "unsolved riddles” of human existence: the meaning and purpose of life, the origin of suffering, the source of genuine happiness, the ultimate end of life, etc.[3].

Since the publication of Nostra Aetate the challenges have increased to include problems of urbanisation, loss of religious fervour, religious extremism, economic imbalance, injustice in the treatment of people of certain religious beliefs, over­generalization and labelling of people according prejudices. The list is long. 

Yet religion has taught people about harmony, peaceful coexistence, justice, honesty, the importance of hard work, and the need to take care of God's creation. 

Need for Dialogue

In order to face the challenges of our time, all hands must be on the deck. Human beings across the religious divide must come together. 

Dialogue is a two-way communication. It implies listening and speaking, receiving and giving, for mutual growth and enrichment. It is a pilgrimage and a risk: when you dialogue with somebody you agree to share his experiences and you are exposed to the possibility of changing your mind. It is more than conversation which involves "being nice to the other". It is more than a negotiation which is often accompanied by shrewd bargaining and mutual concessions followed by reaching a solution and closing the question. 

When the motivation of religion is brought into dialogue, it adds a different dimension. It includes witness to one's own faith as well as openness to that of the other.

Interreligious dialogue takes different forms. It includes being together: living one's life as taught by one's religion (dialogue of life). It is working together in projects of common concern (dialogue of collaboration). It is reflecting together on the teachings of one another's religion (dialogue of theological reflections). It is also sharing together religious experiences (dialogue of spiritual exchanges). These ideas have been developed over the years by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue as forms of interreligious relations. 

There are people who think that interreligious dialogue is a new method for conversion to Christianity. It is neither. As regard to the Catholic Church, it urges her sons (and daughters) to enter with prudence and charity into discussion and collaboration with members of other religions. Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve, and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, also their social life and culture"[4].

Christians consider peace as a gift from God and at the same time the ‘fruit’ of human efforts. It implicates at the same time God and man. Christ said to his disciples, before his death and resurrection, that he leaves them “his peace”. Christians have therefore a particular vision of peace. It is not just the absence of war or terror, but is the sum of many goods, especially that of security. It is the fruit of justice, because there is no peace without justice. War, on the contrary, with all its horrors, is one of the worst tragedies that can occur to communities and nations. Peace grows like a precious plant, it needs continuous care. Humanity needs to promote a culture of peace always and everywhere.

Basis of Peace

A real peace is based on three fundamentals: tolerance, mutual respect/reciprocity and cooperation.

1. Tolerance

Tolerance has a rather negative meaning; it could nevertheless be considered a lesser evil (minus malum), the minimum. Tolerance doesn’t mean simply living side by side and avoiding conflicts. Acceptance of diversity is more than tolerance. It means loving others as brothers and sisters. A brother or a sister is not just to be tolerated; he or she has to be loved. 

This love is not a sentimental and romantic one, but one which is based on balanced knowledge about others in order to become acquainted with one another and to love one another! 

2. Mutual Respect or reciprocity

        Respect is a core value, a fundamental concept in human relations. Without it, no good could be achieved even if other noble sentiments are present like pity, compassion etc. Respect the other does not mean acceptance of what he believes in or approval of his behaviour. It is rather an attitude of consideration based on the fundamental and inalienable dignity of every human being.

3. Cooperation

        This means working together for the common good and to help those who are in all kinds of need, especially the most needy.

        The issue of cooperation among believers of different religions has been often raised. Many advocate that dialogue must go beyond niceties of exchange; that it must progress from words to deeds.

        Dialogue of collaboration or dialogue of action in which Christians and others collaborate for the integral development and liberation of people has always been the main interest of the Catholic Church[5]. This is God's will. As Pope Benedict XVI said in Turkey: "We are called to work together, so as to help society to open itself to the transcendent, giving Almighty God his rightful place..."[6].

In this regard, I would like refer to the four pillars of peace mentioned in the encyclical Pacem in Terris of Pope John XXIII: Truth, Justice, Love and Liberty. No peace without justice, no justice without love, no love without liberty. 

The Holy See’s Collaboration with the Muslim Leaders

The Holy See through the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has a long history of collaboration with Muslim Scholars. There are some joint commissions with Islamic Institutions, mainly those in the Middle East and in the North African Countries. Just to mention a few: 

?Joint Committee between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Islamic Call Society (WICS) based in Tripoli, Libya.

?With the "Islamic Culture and Relations Organization" of Iran

?The “Islamic-Catholic Coordinating Committee" based in Saudi Arabia

?Joint Committee with the Permanent Committee of al-Azhar for Dialogue with the Monotheistic Religions, Cairo, Egypt

?With the Royal Institute in Jordan, etc.

?In November 2008 a new Forum for collaboration with Muslim scholars flowing from the Open Letter of the 138 Muslim scholars to the Holy Father and diverse Christian leaders all over the world was established. 

Worth mentioning here is the fact stressed in the "Open Letter" that Christians and Muslims represent 55% of the world population and consequently, if they are faithful to their own religions, they can do a lot for the common good, for peace and harmony in the society of which they are members.

Such a context is favourable for calmly tackling ancient, thorny "subjects" like the question of the human person's rights; the principle of freedom of conscience and of religion; reciprocity with regard to places of worship.

Therefore, I should say that Christians and Muslims are heralds of a two-fold message:

1. Only God is worthy of adoration. Therefore all the idols made by men (wealth, power, appearance, hedonism) constitute a danger for the dignity of the human person, God's creature.

2. In God's sight, all men and women belong to the same race, to the same family. They are all called to freedom and to encounter Him after death.

I would like to indicate also, some concrete areas of life where Christians and Muslims together can contribute effectively to the common good of society:

-- First, by witnessing to a life of prayer, both as individuals and as a community, recalling that "Man does not live on bread alone". In our world today it is a must to stress and to show the necessity of an interior life.

-- Secondly, Christians and Muslims being faithful to their spiritual commitments can help to understand better that freedom of religion means much more than to have a Church or a Mosque at their disposal (this is obvious and the minimum one can ask for) but it is also to have the possibility to take part in public dialogue through cultural exchanges (of schools, Institutes, Universities) and also through political and social responsibilities in which believers must be models.

-- Together Christians and Muslims must not hesitate to defend the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the family, as they did in the framework of recent meetings organized by the United Nations.

-- They should not refrain from uniting their efforts in fighting against illiteracy and disease.

-- They have the common responsibility to provide moral formation for youth.

-- Finally, they must be peacemakers and teach the pedagogy of peace in the family, in the church and mosque, at school and in the university.

If I may say, believers are prophets of hope. They do not believe in fate. They know that gifted by God with a heart and intelligence, they can with His help, change the course of history in order to orientate their life according to the project of the Creator: that is to say, make humanity an authentic family of which each one of us is a member. For us Christians, we must always remember the Apostle Paul's exhortation in the letter to the Romans: "Let us then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another" (14:19). It is a beautiful roadmap!

Dear Friends,

        Our world is what we want it to be; our future is the one we choose and construct together. Our presence as religious leaders, scholars and persons representing our respective communities is an evident expression of our wish and commitment to friendly and constructive relations among the followers of all religions. Let us work for peace, build peace, give and receive peace!

Thank you!

SPEECH FOR THE VISIT TO THE HOLY SPIRIT MAJOR SEMINARY BANANI, DHAKA

Your Excellency, the Apostolic Nuncio, Excellencies,

Fr. Rector, Fathers, Professors and Seminarians,

I am deeply grateful to God who has given us the opportunity to meet in this welcoming country, rich in its great variety of traditions, cultures and religions. 

I am also happy to visit this Seminary for the first time as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in Vatican and to be with you, Fr. Rector Sharat Gomes, the Professors and the Seminarians present. 

It is indeed a great joy to be in front of such a large number of Seminarians, especially when Christians in this country are - as Pope John Paul II called you during his visit in 1986 to this country - “God’s little flock” among other more numerous religions. This indicates on one hand, the positive growth of the Catholic Church in this country, generating optimism for the secure existence of the Church of God on this soil in the future, and on the other hand, it is a prophetical message that God doesn’t abandon his beloved people.

Regarding the priest formation in the Major Seminaries, the Second Vatican Council in the Decree on Priestly Training “Optatam Totius”, proclaimed by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965, stated, that the Major Seminary is the place to form the Seminarians to become true shepherds of souls after the model of our Lord Jesus Christ, teacher, priest and shepherd. Your formation and education is to prepare you to be the bearers of the Word which means that you, firstly, understand what you are going to proclaim, secondly, possess it ever more firmly, and thirdly express it in an appropriate and just way in order to help others to understand (cfr. OT III, 4). 

In other words, here you are prepared to be able to make Jesus Christ present to every body, regardless of age, religious and cultural background. Jesus to be proclaimed, is he, who did not "come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45; cf. John 13:12-17), who loved and forgave without conditions and being among people of various attitudes, faiths and point of views without prejudices. 

How can this goal be better realized? 

1.     A Balanced Passion to Theology and Pastoral Praxis

In an occasion of dialogue with the youth of Rome, the Holy Father Benedict XVI replied to a young man who asked how the Holy Father had discovered his priestly vocation. He replied: Christianity lives in different epochs and contexts with different challenges. He personally faced the brutality of the Nazi-regime forbidding the new establishment of priestly formation centres and religious monasteries. But because of such difficult circumstances, the number of vocations to the priesthood grew. 

In the Seminary, the Holy Father loved Theology passionately. But soon he realized that it was not enough to love Theology fervently in order to become a good priest. It was necessary to be involved in pastoral commitments with children, youth, old, sick, poor and marginalized. The “orthodoxy” (right belief or purity of faith) must be transformed into “orthopraxis” (right-doing). 

That is what the Sacred Council meant by saying that all the forms of training: spiritual, intellectual, disciplinary, are to be ordered with a concerted effort towards the pastoral end. In order to reach this goal, all the administrators, professors and students are requested to work zealously and harmoniously together.

2.Man of Prayer

The apostles were called by Jesus to follow him, and they left everything to be with him. This 'being with Jesus' is always the first key part of any vocation, and this is true in a special way of the call to be a priest. 

In order to make Jesus present to others, it is necessary to cultivate a personal friendship and to develop a personal relationship with him as well. It is not enough to know Jesus from theological books and other literature, but Jesus needs to be recognized and known better through personal prayer, in the reading of the Holy Bible and in meditation, accompanied by courage and humility, optimism and openness for greater adventures in the way of the vocation. The priest has to be someone whose personal, intimate friendship with Jesus is the very heart of all he is and does.

Amidst of millions of opportunities in this high-tech age, being a priest, which means, to negate oneself in order to be a true follower of Jesus, is a big challenge. But I am convinced, that a priest, who is a man of prayer, will be able to overcome the challenges, because he is building his “house of vocation” on the rock. He “will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream. And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought, nor cease to yield fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8).

Priesthood is indeed a vocation, not a career or a “business” we partake in. A vocation is a special call of God to certain persons because God has a certain project in mind for them. We, those who have the grace to be called, are entrusted with special mission to follow Jesus, to make his life our life, and his mission our mission. We are called to make Jesus known beyond the borders of our own communities and nation, because indeed, we have something to tell, and that is Jesus, the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Thank you and Happy Easter to you all.

Homily - Memorial Mass for SHABBAZ BHATTI

6 March 2011

We are gathered here to give thanks to God for the life of Shahbaz Bhatti.  He has been an example and his spiritual testament will help us to grow in the understanding of Jesus’ message.  When we are before the abject behaviour of man, when we feel unprotected and exposed to every danger, we find in the Eucharist the courage to hope and to love.

Shahbaz Bhatti would always find his optimism and courage in the Eucharist.  He knew that we cannot share Christ under the sign of the shared bread and wine consumed, without giving ourselves to the other because of Christ.  Jesus is the only one who can dominate sin, forgive those who believe in him.

With Shahbaz Bhatti, who is now near to God our Father, and is more than ever our brother, let us engage ourselves to be the messengers and the witnesses to the victory of love over violence. We have the choice between a blessing and a curse.Let us continue our pilgrimage with confidence because of “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood...”