By Muzammil H. Siddiqi
In 1965 Catholic Church allowed its adherents to engage in dialogue with people of other religions. Since then Muslims and Catholics are meeting regularly in different part of the world. In the United States, the Muslim-Catholic dialogue formally began in 1985. National and regional meetings have been co-sponsored by U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Islamic Society of North America and several other Muslim organizations. I have been more directly and regularly involved in the West Coast dialogue of which I have served as a co-chairman with our esteemed Catholic Bishops and leaders.
In December 2003, we concluded a joint statement: “Friends and Not Adversaries: A Catholic-Muslim Spiritual Journey.” Our joint statement emphasized:
I. We, Catholics and Muslims, believe that God is the source of peace and justice, and thus we fundamentally agree on the nature of peace and justice and the essential need of all to work for peace and justice.
II. Our rich teachings and traditions of peace and justice serve as a resource and inspiration for all; however, our immediate and present actions to work together are often wanting. The need to work together for peace and justice is a pressing demand in these troubled times.
III. We believe that it is God who forgives and that as Catholics and Muslims we are called by God to offer forgiveness. Forgiveness is an important step to moving beyond our past history if we are to preserve human dignity, to effect justice, and to work for peace.
IV. We may disagree on certain points of doctrine, even as we respect the others’ rights to a fundamental integrity of their teachings and affirm all their human and religious rights. With love and in the pursuit of truth, we will offer our criticisms of one another when we believe there is a violation of integrity of faith in God. We must avoid demonizing one another and misrepresenting one another’s teachings and traditions.
V. When we meet in dialogue and discuss matters of peace, justice, and forgiveness, while being faithful to our traditions, we have experienced a profound and moving connection on the deepest level of our faith, which must take effect in our lives.
Our dialogue has matured during these years. We do not sit together to engage in polemics, or apologetics. We do not attack others’ faith positions, nor do we try to convert each other. We rather look at issues from a broader perspective of understanding our commonalities and our rich diversity. The dialogue has been productive and helpful in developing better understanding among us and also building good relations and cooperation among us.
There have also been challenges. In his lecture at the University of Regensburg, Germany, on Sept. 12, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th century Byzantine Emperor named Manuel II Palaeologus, who said “… Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith that he preached.”
Pope Benedict repeatedly quoted Manuel’s argument that spreading the faith through violence is unreasonable. This gave a general impression that the Pope was supporting these views. The reaction was swift and strong from Muslims the world over.
Pakistan’s parliament voted to condemn him. Lebanon’s leading Shia leader asked for a personal apology. The deputy head of Turkey’s governing party put him in the same category as Hitler and Mussolini. Unfortunately, two churches in Palestine were bombed, and a nun in Somalia was killed over the incident.
Muslims in America felt deep pain. They expressed sadness and sorrow, dismay and shock but they more restrained and peaceful. We felt that we have to increase our dialogue and do more work to create better understanding of our faith and our Prophet.
Pope Benedict realized the pain that his lecture caused to Muslims. He said that he was “deeply sorry,” adding that the quotation was not an expression of his personal views. We talked to our Catholic friends in dialogue, and they also realized the seriousness of the situation. In Los Angeles we met with Cardinal Roger Mahoney who remarked that this was “a moment of education.”
We Muslims appreciate our dialogue with the Catholic Church and we hope that it will continue for the benefit of our two communities as well as for others. We need joint efforts to remove misinformation and misrepresentation of each other’s faith in our books, especially school texts and the texts used in our religious schools. We need joint efforts against anti-Catholic and anti-Muslim propaganda and to promote religious freedom and tolerance. We need more cooperation in relief efforts in areas affected by natural or man-made disasters. We need joint efforts for peace, freedom and political justice.
Muslim-Catholic dialogue could serve as a good model for bilateral and multilateral dialogues among the people of other faiths as well. We believe that dialogue is necessary among all people of faith and cultures.
It is our hope that our meeting today with Pope Benedict XVI will enhance our relations and open the ways for more dialogue and better relations
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