Catholic-Muslim Forum – Day 3

This morning the Vatican news service published the Final Declaration of Catholic-Muslim Forum:

FINAL DECLARATION OF CATHOLIC-MUSLIM FORUM

VATICAN CITY, 7 NOV 2008 (VIS) – Made public yesterday afternoon was the final declaration of participants in the First Seminar of the Catholic-Muslim Forum, which took place in Rome from 4 to 6 November on the theme: “Love of God, Love of Neighbour”.

Each of the two sides in the meeting was represented by 24 participants and five advisers who discussed the two great themes of “Theological and Spiritual Foundations” and “Human Dignity and Mutual Respect”. Points of “similarity and of diversity emerged, reflecting the distinctive specific genius of the two religions” the English-language declaration says.

1. “For Christians the source and example of love of God and neighbour is the love of Christ for His Father, for humanity and for each person” reads the first of the fifteen points of the declaration. “Love of neighbour cannot be separated from love of God, because it is an expression of our love for God. … Grounded in Christ’s sacrificial love, Christian love is forgiving and excludes no-one; it therefore also includes one’s enemies”.

   “For Muslims … love is a timeless transcendent power which guides and transforms human mutual regard. This love, as indicated by the Holy and Beloved Prophet Muhammad, is prior to the human love for the One True God”.

2. “Human life is a most precious gift of God to each person. It should therefore be preserved and honoured in all its stages”.
3. Human dignity is derived from the fact that every human person is created by a loving God and has been endowed with the gifts of reason and free will, and therefore enabled to love God and others. On the firm basis of these principles, the person requires the respect of his or her original dignity and his or her human vocation. Therefore, he or she is entitled to full recognition of his or her identity and freedom by individuals, communities and governments, supported by civil legislation that assures equal rights and full citizenship.
4. “We affirm that God’s creation of humanity has two great aspects: the male and the female human person, and we commit ourselves jointly to ensuring that human dignity and respect are extended on an equal basis to both men and women.
5. “Genuine love of neighbour implies respect of the person and her or his choices in matters of conscience and religion. It includes the right of individuals and communities to practice their religion in private and public.
6. “Religious minorities are entitled to be respected in their own religious convictions and practices. They are also entitled to their own places of worship, and their founding figures and symbols they consider sacred should not be subject to any form of mockery or ridicule.
7. “As Catholic and Muslim believers, we are aware of the summons and imperative to bear witness to the transcendent dimension of life, through a spirituality nourished by prayer, in a world which is becoming more and more secularised and materialistic.
8. “We affirm that no religion and its followers should be excluded from society. Each should be able to make its indispensable contribution to the good of society, especially in service to the most needy.
9. “We recognise that God’s creation in its plurality of cultures, civilisations, languages and peoples is a source of richness and should therefore never become a cause of tension and conflict.
10. “We are convinced that Catholics and Muslims have the duty to provide a sound education in human, civic, religious and moral values for their respective members and to promote accurate information about each other’s religions.
11. “We profess that Catholics and Muslims are called to be instruments of love and harmony among believers, and for humanity as a whole, renouncing any oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially that committed in the name of religion, and upholding the principle of justice for all.
12. “We call upon believers to work for an ethical financial system in which the regulatory mechanisms consider the situation of the poor and disadvantaged, both as individuals, and as indebted nations. We call upon the privileged of the world to consider the plight of those afflicted most severely by the current crisis in food production and distribution, and ask religious believers of all denominations and all people of good will to work together to alleviate the suffering of the hungry, and to eliminate its causes.
13. “Young people are the future of religious communities and of societies as a whole. Increasingly, they will be living in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies. It is essential that they be well formed in their own religious traditions and well informed about other cultures and religions.
14. “We have agreed to explore the possibility of establishing a permanent Catholic-Muslim committee to co-ordinate responses to conflicts and other emergency situations.
15. “We look forward to the second seminar of the Catholic-Muslim Forum to be convened in approximately two years in a Muslim-majority country yet to be determined”.

The declaration concludes by affirming that all the participants “expressed satisfaction with the results of the seminar and their expectation for further productive dialogue”.

OP/CATHOLIC MUSLIM DECLARATION/… VIS 081107 (860)

My preliminary “Presbyterian” reflection is that point number 1 is the only one which dares to approach the ethical questions from a theological standpoint; the rest of the points appear merely sweet-talking, political-ethical rhetoric, a collective statement saying, “we both believe in being nice one to another.”

Whatever implications may have been implied in point 1 are ignored throughout the remaining 14 points. From a Christian perspective, are we supposed to understand from this statement, for example, that trinitarianism has no significant role in Christian ethics other than in characterizing its transcendent foundation? Are we to conclude further that having Christ, the God-man, as “source” and “goal” yields no practical ethical difference than were we to believe in an impersonal, transcendent power which is revealed by a non-God-man?

That theological differences between Christian and Muslim ethics are hardly approached in this statement is somewhat baffling if the stated purpose of the forum was to have a theological dialog concerning “Theological and Spiritual Foundations.”

Catholic-Muslim Forum – Day 2

This morning the Vatican issued its second press release concerning the present Catholic-Muslim Forum, urging the respective religions away from past prejudices and toward mutual respect. The Pope continues to stand strong on individual human rights:

“My hope”, he went on, ” is that these fundamental human rights will be protected for all people everywhere. Political and religious leaders have the duty of ensuring the free exercise of these rights in full respect for each individual’s freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. The discrimination and violence which even today religious people experience throughout the world, and the often violent persecutions to which they are subject, represent unacceptable and unjustifiable acts, all the more grave and deplorable when they are carried out in the name of God.

The Pope’s continued stand for freedom of religion as a fundamental human right may be set in context of apparent inequities in current global Muslim-Catholic relations. For example, Gudrun Brese, a German retiree who lives near the new Mosque which recently opened in Germany, expresses in layman’s terms a concern for lack of mutual freedom of religion between Turkey and Germany:

I don’t find it (the mosque) very good, because we are not allowed to build churches in Turkey.

Perhaps, then, a sentiment like Brese’–that if Turkish immigrants are allowed to build Mosques in Germany, Germans ought to be allowed to build churches in Turkey–lies veiled behind the Pope’s continued pressing for human rights as he pursues Catholic-Muslim relations.

That the Pope is indeed concerned with such lacks of mutual freedom of religion in Muslim countries is further seen in the other statement which he released today, the one concerning fraternal relations in Egypt. Herein the reader senses a similar veiled reference to religious freedom inequities, expressed this time in positive terms:

“In your country, the Catholic Church also wants to enter into contact with the many visiting Catholic tourists who wish to practice their religion. I am convinced that they will soon be given the chance to pray to God in a dignified fashion at appropriate places of worship in the new tourist sites that have come into being in the last few years. It would be a good signal to the world if Egypt were to favour relations of friendship and fraternity among religions and peoples, in accordance with its ancient and noble traditions”.

The sentiment seems to be, in other words, if an Egyptian Muslim can visit a western country without fear of relgious oppression, wouldn’t it be nice for Egypt to return the favor?

Opening Day of the Catholic-Muslim Forum

For anyone following A Common Word and its aftereffects in the realm of international Christian-Muslim relations, here is the Vatican’s news release about the opening day of its Catholic-Muslim forum:

FIRST SEMINAR OF THE CATHOLIC-MUSLIM FORUM

VATICAN CITY, 4 NOV 2008 (VIS) – The First Seminar organised by the Catholic-Muslim Forum will begin this morning in the Vatican. The Forum was established by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and by Muslim representatives in the wake of the Open Letter sent on 13 October 2007 to His Holiness Benedict XVI and to other heads of Churches and ecclesial Communities by 138 Muslim leaders, and of the reply, sent by the Cardinal Secretary of State in the Holy Father’s name on 19 November 2007.

According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the theme of the Seminar – “Love of God, Love of Neighbour” – will be tackled from two main standpoints: “theological and spiritual fundamentals” and “the dignity of the human person and mutual respect”. The Catholic and Muslim sides will both deliver reports on each of these sub-themes, and their statements will then be the basis for the subsequent debates. Each of the two sides in the meeting will be composed of 29 people, including experts, religious authorities and advisers.

On the third day the participants in the Seminar are scheduled to be received in audience by the Holy Father. At 4.30 p.m. that afternoon a public session will be held in the Pontifical Gregorian University for the presentation of the Joint Declaration approved during the course of meeting. A Muslim and a Catholic representative will be present to answer any questions concerning the Seminar.

CON-DIR/MUSLIM CATHOLIC FORUM/… VIS 081104 (260)

A lot has happened since the initial publishing of A Common Word. It will be interesting to see whether the reports given at this forum will be made public.

Constantine’s Sword: Is Carroll’s Movie A “Catholic Fitna“?

As the world is busy inquiring about violence surrounding Islam’s Crescent, James Carroll turns attention to the dark side of the Roman Catholic Cross. The movie is based on Carroll’s controversial book, Constantine’s Sword, which accuses the Roman Church of propagating antisemitism. Is Carroll’s movie, then, a “Catholic Fitna“?

Carroll’s Summary of the Film

Constantine’s Sword is the story of James Carroll; a former Catholic priest on a journey to confront his past and uncover the roots of religiously inspired violence and war. His search also reveals a growing scandal involving religious infiltration of the U.S. military and the terrible consequences of religion’s influence on America’s foreign policy.

Carroll focuses on Christian antisemitism as the model for all religious hatred, exposing the cross as a symbol of a long history of violence against Jews (and, most recently, Moslems). The film brings the history of religious intolerance to life, tracing it as a source of the fanaticism that threatens the world today. At its core, Constantine’s Sword is a compelling personal narrative — a kind of detective story — as one man uncovers the dark areas of his own past, searching for a better future (source).

from Constantine’s Sword.com

Related Elsewhere

• The Offical Constantine’s Sword Website
• ABC News interview with James Carroll and Oren Jacoby
• Carroll’s book by the same title as the movie, Constantine’s Sword
• In depth movie review with many links to interviews and further reviews at GreenCine
• Brief movie review at the New York Post
• Christianity Today reviews the book and movie

Catholic-Muslim Forum Scheduled for November 2008

On Wednesday of last week twenty-four Catholic and Muslim leaders announced a forum in Rome to facilitate discussions spurned by the Muslim-initiatied A Common Word (ACW) letter. The topics to be addressed at the 4-6 November 2008 forum under the theme, “Love of God, Love of Neighbour,” include:

• “Theological and Spiritual Foundations,” and
• “Human Dignity and Mutual Respect.”

Pope Benedict XVI will have a reception for the delegates on 6 November.

Forum Is the Outgrowth of Vatican’s Previous Invitation

The forum event itself and the specific topics chosen for discussion should be seen in light of the seeds sown by the Vatican’s preliminary responses to ACW. On 19 November 2007 Pope Benedict replied briefly by letter via Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, which outlined the Pope’s s four topics which he sees as imperative for Muslims to address before any real interfaith progress can be achieved:

“Such common ground allows us to base dialogue on

1. effective respect for the dignity of every human person,
2. on objective knowledge of the religion of the other,
3. on the sharing of religious experience and, finally,
4. on common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation.

“The Pope is confident that, once this is achieved, it will be possible to cooperate in a productive way in the areas of culture and society, and for the promotion of justice and peace in society and throughout the world.” (Quoted from Cardinal Bertone’s letter; List formatting added.)

(Watch a ~2 min. news video clip from Catholic.org about the Vatican’s initial response to A Common Word.)

Perhaps in light of the continuing oppression of Christians in various Muslim countries, the Cardinal’s letter explicitly denies “downplaying our differences as Christians and Muslims,” while at the same time expressing a desire to “look to what unites us” and to find “common ground” for dialog along the four points outlined above.

Cardinal Bertone ended the brief letter with an invitation to “a restricted group of signatories of the open letter” to meet with Vatican leaders such as the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

That this invitation is important is expressed by Jesuit scholar Samir Khalil Samir, who, writing in the Journal Chretein (see letter #2 in this Chretein article) suggests that the invitation is the most important part of the Pope’s response:

But in order to avoid stopping at « pious wishes, » he [Pope Benedict] advances a proposal that is the most important feature of his entire letter : an invitation for a working meeting between a group of the signatories selected by the letter’s promoter, and a group of specialists selected by the Christian side. It is a matter of making good intentions practical and long-lasting.

In speaking of the first of the Pope’s four topics for discussion, Samir makes an interesting point regarding the search for “common ground” in the dialog between the two religions: “In dialogue, the Church is inspired by the Gospel, but does not set this as the foundation, in order not to exclude anyone.” The foundation for dialog, claims Samir, is “the dignity of every human person” which is “expressed by human rights.” Perhaps this sort of reasoning is an example of the Thomastic nature-grace dualism, the heart of Roman Catholic natural law theory.

Muslim Response to Vatican’s Letter

The official Muslim response to Cardinal Bertone’s letter came on 12 December 2007 from the hand of Prince Ghazi, Jordan‘s Cultural Secretary and Advisor for Tribal Affairs. Interesting highlights from the letter include the following:
Prince Ghazi, in a word, gives explains the essence of ACW and affirms the differences between the two religions:

…[ACW is] essentially an affirmation of the One God, and of the twofold commandment to love Him and one’s neighbour – even if it transpires that there are differences between us in the interpretation or comprehension of the text of this letter, each in accordance with their own religious sensibilities and traditions. These differences themselves are presumably also a matter for discussion between us, and should be an occasion for mutual respect and celebration, and not divisive disputation.

Reiterating the Muslim understanding of deep differences between the religions, Prince Ghazi stated unequivocally:

…we, like you, also consider complete theological agreement between Christians and Muslims inherently not possible by definition, but still wish to seek and promote a common stance and co-operation based upon what we do agree on (as mentioned above) – whether we wish to call this kind of dialogue ‘theological’ or ‘spiritual’ or something else – for the sake of the common good and towards the good of the whole world, God Willing.

The Prince also referenced the Decalogue, minus the Sabbath command, as a possibility for finding common ground for dialog.

Interestingly, Prince Ghazi reduced the Pope’s 4 topics to 3 by combining points 2 and 3; and the Prince urged the parties to move beyond mere discussion to fruitful action:

…we understand that we are to pursue, God Willing, a dialogue in the three general topics of dialogue Your Eminence wisely mentioned in your letter: (1) “Effective respect for the dignity of every human person”; (2) “Objective knowledge of the religion of the other” through “sharing of religious experience”, and (3) “A common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation”. We could also perhaps discuss how to bring the results of our dialogue on these three topics to practical fruition between Christians and Muslims, based also on “A Common Word” and the Ten Commandments (notwithstanding the aforementioned proviso about the Sabbath).

Along the lines of moving from dialog to action, the Prince stated the definition of “dialogue” and explained Muslims’ motive for such discussions: to receive rahmah from God (“what you may be pleased to call caritas [love],” says the Prince, perhaps referring to Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est [Latin for "God is love"]). In my research thus far, this passage in the Prince’s letter is the first place that I have seen where either side has explicitly laid out the definition of dialog or has explained dialog’s goals and means.

From Letters to Forums

Against this historical backdrop, then, it will be interesting to see the fruits of the November 2008 forum. With neither side willing to deny theological differences, what will be the basis of these talks? Will the dialog move beyond mere religious formalities and political niceties? What sort of practical fruits, if any, will result? Will yet another ecumenical document or letter be produced? Will the meeting help cool fires of religious intolerance, or will radicals use the forum as a rallying point for more oppression?