Opening Remarks from Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran
President, PCID

Your Excellency, Dr. Khoramshad,
Dear friends,

I am pleased to welcome each of you and in a particular way our Iranian friends, thanking God for their safe arrival and their presence among us. Our meeting in the present context of interreligious dialogue is particularly significant. I am pleased also to tell you that on next Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI will receive us in a private audience and it will be an encouragement to double our efforts to find ways to promote justice in the contemporary world, which is the theme of our encounter: “Catholic and Muslim Cooperation in Promoting Justice in the Contemporary World”.

During these days we are going to share each our own approach as regards Justice and we shall do that from a religious perspective.

First of all, as believers we recognize that our world is not the fruit of fate or the fruit of necessity but it is the result of an extraordinary project of God who, in a very mysterious way, has decided to create the Cosmos and to entrust it to the human person. He is at the beginning and at the end of human history.

Christians know that “The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God…From the beginning to now the entire creation has been groaning in one great act of giving birth” (Rom, 8:21-22). And Muslims, for their part, do not forget that God put at the disposal of men and women all what is in heaven and all what is on the earth.

As believers we are therefore invited to make of this world a place where God and his creatures are in harmony among themselves and with nature, and to remember that we are responsible for the accomplishment of God’s project.

Believers and non-believers agree at least on one point: “All things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown as we read in Constitutuion Gaudiem et Spes.

So as religious leaders and intellectuals we are called to meet the needs of the concrete life of peoples and to contribute to make social life more human, more open to transcendence, and more open to the common good. It is there that justice comes in: when we speak of justice we speak of the capacity to love.

Almighty God has granted us faith and reason. You remember that in April 2008 we jointly organized an encounter on the theme of “Faith and Reason in Christianity and Islam”.

If we are creatures, it means that we are also partners of God. And all together we must work in order that violence disappear and dialogue triumph. We must do our utmost in order that the use of arms be replaced by the sincere will of peace. We must behave in order that pride and egoism do not spoil the quality of our human relationships. You remember what Pope John Paul II proclaimed: No peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness (1st January 2002).

In that field believers have a specific role to play, because religious faith brings people together and unites them. Religious beliefs make them more attentive, more responsible, more generous in their commitment to the common good. So it is the task of religious leaders to ensure that freedom of conscience and freedom of religion are consistently secured in order that the communities of believers be free to receive, to learn and to announce their message of fraternity and to promote a pedagogy of respect for pluralism.

In conclusion I want to add that perhaps we shall not reach total consensus on some issues but what is important is to remember that, as believers, we have to propose some answers to the fundamental questions that normal human beings ask: What is the meaning of our life? Why is there suffering? Why are there wars? Why can we not reach harmony? The path leading to justice begins by solidarity. We have to recall that beauty, truth, and bounty are capable of changing the world and making of it a place where it is good to live together. It is my hope and my prayer that during these days we can reach concrete initiatives to work together for the promotion of the common good. We are going to ask ourselves, what is the origin of the dignity of the human person? Do we serve the dignity of the human person? Do we practice solidarity? These are very practical questions that religious leaders, educated persons and leaders of society cannot avoid.

So I invoke the blessing of Almighty God on each of us, on our communities, and on the human family and especially on its members who are deprived of their rights and are eagerly looking for justice.

Discourse
His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran
at the Opening Session of the VI Doha Conference on Interreligious Dialogue on

"Religious values: between pacifism and respect for life" Doha, 13-14 May 2008

Dear Friends,

1. I would like, at the beginning thank God for having brought us together to this hospitable country and to this beautiful city for this meeting.

2. I also wish to thank the organizers of this Conference, which has now arrived at its sixth edition. I congratulate them forhaving thought of organizing this unique Conference in the heart of the Arab countries. I note with satisfaction that the Qatari people are courageous and maintain their promises! For example, they promised to widen the Conference to include Jews, and to create an international structure for dialogue - now the International Centre of Doha for Interreligious Dialogue - : both promises have been maintained! I also note that there is a clear distinction between the roles of the various institutions involved in the preparation of the Conference. I am glad to note the role the Faculty of Shari'a of the University of Qatar has had, and still has, in the organization of the Conference. The fact that this Faculty has at its head a woman, in the person of Dr 'Aisha al-Mannaie, adds to the merit of Qatar in this process.

3. I am also glad to note the participation of the Catholic Church and of the Holy See in this initiative. I remember my participation in the II Doha Conference, jointly organized by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, namely the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims in the Vatican, and Qatari partners of the Faculty of Shari'a and of the Gulf Center for Studies, with the collaboration of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which was held from 27-29  May  2004, on  the  theme  "Religious  liberty:   a   theme  for Chr istian-Muslim Dialogue", with the participation of 72 Muslims and Christians. At that time I was in charge of  the  Pontifical Vatican Library and of the Secret Archives of the Holy See, where  many valuable Arabic and Islamic manuscripts are conserved. As you may know, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI called me last June for a new service: I am the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. I am accompanied by Msgr. Khaled Akasheh, who is charge  of the Islam Desk in the same Council.

4. The absence of the Holy See from V Doha  Conference, last  year,was due to communication and technical problems and should not give any cause for anxiety that the engagement of the Catholic Church in interreligious dialogue is anyless.

5. In fact, since the beginning of His Pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI, the very day after the solemn inauguration of his Pontificate, on 25th April 2005, affirmed to the participants in the ceremony from different religious traditions: "I am particularly grateful for the presence in our midst of members of the Muslim community, and I express my appreciation for the growth of dialogue between Muslims and Christians, both at the local and international level. I assure you that the Church wants to continue building bridges of friendship with the followers of all religions, in order to seek the true good of every person and of society as a whole". He also said: "Itis therefore imperative to engage in authentic and sincere dialogue, built on respect for the dignity of every human person, created, as we Christians firmly believe, in the  image and  likeness of God  (cf. Gn 1:26-27)".IamsureweallagreewithHisHolinessonthenecessityof an "authentic and sincere dialogue" and that the kind of meeting we are engaging in is "authentic and sincere" and therefore lasting and fruitful. Dialogue, as we are all aware, is a necessary service to humanity: it is no longer a choice. If well done, in love and truth, it is synonym of mutual understanding, respect, peace andharmony among the various components of a society, whether ethnical, religious, cultural, orpolitical.

6. I am particularly glad that this conference is to discuss religious values. We, followers of the three major monotheistic religions, we share religious values with followers of other religions and we find ourselves closer in sharing them, because of our common belief in God as Creator, as Providence andas the ultimate end of  every  human being (cf. Nostra aetate, n. 1). Prayer, fasting, alms giving (cf. Nostra aetate, n. 3), compassion for the weak, the sick and the  poor, respect for parents, solidarity on familiar and religious community basis are some of the values we share as Jews, Christians and Muslims. The sacred character of human life - though with differences - is also a shared value. I recall the clear affirmation of Pope John Paul II: " Human being is the way of the Church". I think  that we  can  and should say that human being is the way of all religions! I am happy to see a prominent Muslim figure, when H.M. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia stated, in full agreement with what  affirmed by  Pope John Paul II: "All those who believe in the Torah, the Bible and the Quran have one loyalty, tohumanity".

7. As for peace, permit me to quote an important document of the Second Vatican Council atthis regard, Gaudium et Spes (n. 78): "Peace is not merely the absence of war". Peace rests on justice. Peaceis the fruit of love. Consequentlyall thebelievershave a special responsibility in cooperatingwithall those who tryto ensure the effective respect of the dignity of the human person and its rights, to develop the sense of fraternity and solidarity, to help the brothers and sisters in humanity not to be slaves of consumerism andmaterialism.

8.In this regard I would like to draw your attention to  something which if specific to the believers. Every week, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, millions of men and women regardless of their age, of their culture, of their social conditiongather to join inprayer in their mosques, synagogues andchurches. They succeed to live unity in diversity. We must put this patrimony, a kind of savoir-faire at the disposal of all humanity. I do think this is a significant contribution we can offer to building peace on solid foundations: "The name of the one Godmust become increasingly what it is: a name of peace and a summons to peace" (Novo Millennio lneunte,n. 55)", as Pope John Paul II wrote.

9. Let us educate our youth to peace, to mutual respect. As religious leaders, let us promote a sound pedagogy of peace, which is taught in the family, in the mosques, in the synagogues, in the churches, in ours schools, in our universities. Religions do not make war, unfortunately - as history teaches us - their followers sometimes make war.

May God bless our meeting and give us the courage to be peace makers.