By IINA
Rome : In a ground breaking move, Pope Benedict XVI has approved the setting up of a permanent Catholic-Muslim Dialogue Forum – the first of its kind – which is to hold its inaugural summit meeting in Rome in November. The Pope will address the unprecedented summit meeting with Islamic leaders and scholars. An agreement has been reached here yesterday to establish a regular official dialogue between the two religions. The dialogue is aimed at improving often difficult relations between Islam and Christianity. A joint statement said the first meeting of the “The Catholic-Muslim Forum” will take place on November 4-6 with 24 religious leaders and scholars from each side. It said the themes of the first session would be “Love of God, Love of Neighbor”, “Theological and Spiritual Foundation,” and “Human Dignity and Mutual Respect”. A second forum is to take place after two years, possibly in the Middle East.
The announcement was made at the end of a two-day meeting at the Vatican with five representatives of a group of more than 200 Muslims who had signed an unprecedented appeal to the pope to begin a dialogue. The Muslims were led by Sheikh Addal Hakim Murad, also known as Timothy J. Winter, president of Britain’s Muslim Academic Trust and included Ali Aref Nayed, director of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, and Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice-president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community.
Theological and social issues, as well as terrorism, will be discussed at the conference. The “Catholic-Muslim Forum”, came out of an initiative launched by prominent Muslims in reaction to the bitter fallout that followed the pope’s 2006 speech in Regensburg, Germany. Aref Ali Nayed, coordinator of “A Common Word” praised what he called the Vatican’s positive moves towards Islam, and said the pope’s Regensburg speech, which offended many Muslims, was simply a “spectacular mistake” that humans make. Christian and Muslim scholars welcomed the breakthrough in this week’s talks with delight, reports Reuters.
Prominent theologians from both faiths see the Muslim initiative, which brings together leading figures from the different strands of Sunni and Shia Islam, as a vitally important movement to strengthen mainstream Islam against extremism, Reuters reported. The talks had difficult moments, one participant said, but the Vatican showed a willingness to engage and bridges were built.