The Via Crucis of the Archbishop of Mosul of the Chaldeans
Paulos Faraj Rahho is the latest of the Christian victims in Iraq. His martyrdom is part of the background to the dialogue between the Catholic Church and Islam. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran comments on his recent meetings with Muslim representatives
by Sandro Magister
ROMA, March 19, 2008 – At the end of the Mass for Palm Sunday, with the reading of the Gospel of the Passion in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI recalled the latest Christian martyr in Iraq, the archbishop of Mosul of the Chaldeans, Paulos Faraj Rahho (in the photo), who was kidnapped on February 29 while leaving the Church of the Holy Spirit, where he had celebrated the Stations of the Cross, and then barbarously killed.
With even more emotion, the pope recalled the killing of the Iraqi archbishop while celebrating Mass for him on the morning of Monday, March 17, in "Redemptoris Mater" chapel:
"He took up his cross and followed the Lord Jesus even to the agony of death. And so, as the Servant of the Lord, he contributed to 'bringing justice' to his devastated country and to the whole world, by bearing witness to the truth."
It is calculated that 47 Christians were killed in Iraq last year, 13 of them in Mosul.
Many Iraqi Muslims have also joined in mourning for archbishop Rahho, who was widely admired, the promoter of joint initiatives between Christians and Muslims, like the "Fraternity of charity and joy" to assist people with handicaps. From the holy city of the Shiites, Karbala, the grand ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for the capture of the guilty parties, unanimously thought to be members of al Qaeda or other radical Islamist groups.
Christians in Iraq and in other Muslim countries are increasingly surrounded and under attack, and "they are in danger of disappearing," as cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the congregation for the Oriental Churches, warned on March 15. Those who do resist emigrating literally risk their lives in some places.
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It is against this dramatic background that dialogue between the Catholic Church and Islam is proceeding. An important step was made in this with the meeting that took place in Rome on March 4 and 5 between the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue and a delegation of the 138 Muslim scholars who signed the open letter "A Common Word" addressed to the pope and to other Christian leaders.
As www.chiesa had outlined ahead of time, the Muslim delegation was made up of: Abd al-Hakim Murad Winter, English, director of the Muslim Academic Trust in the United Kingdom; Aref Ali Nayed, Libyan, director of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Amman, Jordan; Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish, director of the SETA foundation in Ankara; Yahya Pallavicini, Italian, vice president of the Comunità Religiosa Islamica d'Italia; Sohail Nakhooda, Jordanian, director of "Islamica Magazine".
For the Catholic Church, the participants at the meeting were cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue; archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, secretary of the same body; Fr. Khaled Akasheh, head of the council's office for Islam; Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, president of the Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies; Fr. Christian Troll, professor of Islamic studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
In a joint statement signed by cardinal Tauran and professor Murad, the two delegations announced the creation of a Catholic-Muslim Forum that will promote annual meetings, held alternately in Rome and other cities.
The first meeting of the Forum will be in Rome, from November 4-6, 2008. 24 religious and scholars from each religion will participate in it. The theme will be "Love of God, love of neighbor," divided into two sub-themes: on the first day, "theological and spiritual foundations"; on the second day, " human dignity and reciprocal respect. " On the third day, the seminar will conclude with a public session. The participants will be received by Benedict XVI.
Further down, in an interview presented on this page, cardinal Tauran comments on the unfolding of the meeting.
But the developments of the letter of the 138 are only one chapter of the agenda between the Catholic Church and Islam.
On February 25 and 26, for example, cardinal Tauran was in Cairo to participate in a meeting of the mixed committee for dialogue between the Holy See and al-Azhar, a theological institution of reference for Sunni Islam.
Encounters of this kind have been taking place annually for 10 years, during the last week of February. Next year, the meeting will be held in Rome. This time, the theme was "faith in God and love of neighbor as foundations of interreligious dialogue," with contributions from Fr. René-Vincent de Grandlaunay and from professor Abdallah Mabrouk al-Naggar.
The final statement from the meeting – which bears the signatures of cardinal Tauran and of Sheikh Abd al-Fattah Muhammad Alaam, president of the permanent committee of al-Azhar for dialogue with monotheistic religions – repeats the principle of "respect for the human person, independent of race, religion, or ideas," and expresses the hope for a reinforcement of "respect for religions, creeds, religious symbols, sacred books, and anything else that is considered sacred."
But the group did not limit itself to reaffirming principles. During the meeting, when Muslim representatives insisted on the fact that, according to the Qur'an, there is no coercion in matters of religion, Tauran noted that there are nonetheless countries in which this principle is not applied, and Christians do not even have the possibility of having a church in which to practice their worship. The Muslim side recognized that this is a real problem that must be resolved.
This is what happened in Doha, in Qatar, last March 16, with the inauguration of a new Catholic Church, the first after 14 centuries of the absence of any Christian building in that Gulf country. 6,000 came to the Mass, almost all of them immigrants, especially from India and from the Philippines. The rite was celebrated in English, but prayers were also said in Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Tagalog, Spanish, and French.
In 2002, the government of Qatar established diplomatic relations with the Holy See, and three years later emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani gave property to the Catholic Church, for the construction of a place of worship. The emir promised that he will have other places of worship built for the Anglicans, Copts, Orthodox, and Hindus.
The consecration of the new church in Doha was officiated over by cardinal Ivan Dias, Indian, prefect of the Vatican congregation for the evangelization of peoples. The pontifical nuncio in Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, and Qatar, Paul Mounged el-Hachem, who was present at the ceremony, expressed the hope that Saudi Arabia and Oman as well may soon establish diplomatic relations with the Holy See. And that Christian churches may be built in these countries, too.
Another encouraging sign for the relationship between the Catholic Church and Islam came from Azerbaijan, where cardinal secretary of state Tarcisio Bertone visited from March 7-9.
Almost the entire population of Azerbaijan is Shiite Muslim. There are fewer than 400 Catholics, almost all of them in the capital of Baku, on the Caspian Sea. But Bertone noted – in an interview with "L'Osservatore Romano" after his return from the trip – that the country displays " a positive tolerance that helps the other religions to express themselves, even publicly, " to the point of offering other countries "a worthy model" of peaceful coexistence.
Confirmation of this, Bertone said, is the esteem that the head of the Muslims of Azerbaijan and the Caucuses, Sheikh ul-Islam Allah Shukur Pasha Zade, demonstrates publicly toward the Catholic Church and the pope.
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Nevertheless, conflicting signals come from other Muslim countries.
In Algeria, a new law was issued in 2006 that strongly limits the exercise of religious freedom, and permits common prayer exclusively in buildings officially authorized by the state. Last February, a Catholic priest, Pierre Wallez, was condemned to a year in prison for going to the slums of Maghnia to meet with Christian immigrants from Cameroon, and for praying with them.
Here, then, follows cardinal Tauran's interview with the newspaper "Avvenire" on March 13, 2008, conducted by Gianni Cardinale.
Where the interview refers to an "Islamic thinker who will soon begin to write for L'Osservatore Romano," the allusion is to Khaled Fouad Allam, several of whose writings have been published by www.chiesa. His collaboration with the pope's newspaper is expected to begin after the summer.
"Dialogue without taboos. Even on religious freedom"
Interview with cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran
"Undoubtedly it has been a dialogue that has taken place in a climate of frankness, of great cordiality, of benevolent listening, which brings great hope for the future..."
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue, says he is satisfied with the first meeting that took place from March 4-5 in Rome, with a delegation of the signers of the now famous open letter "A Common Word" originally signed by 138 Islamic scholars.
Q: Your Eminence, in the diplomatic language that you know well, to say that a dialogue has been "frank" means that there has been a real, dialectical confrontation . . .
A: Well, does dialogue take place between those who think differently, or not? In any case, the tone was always civil and cordial.
Q: This first appointment took up the task of creating a Catholic-Muslim Forum. What will be the criteria to designate the participants?
A: For our part, we will choose ecclesiastical and academic personalities who have direct knowledge of Islam and Muslims, including some who have developed this knowledge in the field.
Q: To what extent do the people with whom you met in recent days represent the Muslim world?
A: They are distinguished personalities who well represent the signatories of the letter "A Common Word," who, in turn, represent an important, if not exhaustive, segment of the Islamic intelligentsia.
Q: Does the creation of this Catholic-Muslim Forum replace the other forms of dialogue with other organized bodies of the Muslim world already underway for some time?
A: I would not like to give the impression that Islamic-Christian dialogue began with the letter of the 138, nor that it is exhausted with this. That's not the way it is. This institutionalized dialogue has been place since Vatican Council II, and is also expressed in regular talks with other Islamic bodies. Two weeks ago, for example, I was in Egypt at al-Azhar, the most authoritative Sunni Islamic institution. At the end of March, in Rome, we will have a meeting with the World Islamic Call Society of Libya. In April there will take place, also here in Rome, a talk with Iranian representatives. And in May, we will be in Amman, for a meeting with the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies.
Q: You have been criticized for maintaining that theological dialogue between Christians and Muslims is impossible. Have these criticisms changed your mind?
A: I point out that the first of the two sub-themes that will be discussed at the first seminar on "Love of God, love of neighbor" of the Catholic-Muslim Forum to be held in November here in Rome will be dedicated precisely to the "Theological and spiritual foundations" of this love. So, no exclusion, then.
Q: Have you noted among your Muslim counterparts a serious intention of also discussing topics concerning religious freedom, including the freedom to change religion?
A: In this case as well, I point out that the second sub-theme of the upcoming encounter in November will be "Human dignity and reciprocal respect." And it seems obvious to me that religious freedom, including the freedom to change religion, is part of human dignity. But, even if there are still different sensibilities on this point, it seems important that no topic should remain taboo, in an open dialogue that is respectful of the other. We hope that this will be fruitful and will have practical repercussions.
Q: How do you value the inauguration of a church, the first, in Qatar?
A: It is a very good sign. A gesture of respect on the part of the emir of this Gulf state, who has already shown his good predisposition toward Christians and toward Catholics in particular, also by establishing diplomatic relations with the Holy See. His is also an example to follow for those countries that still do not permit Christians, and other believers, to have their own place of worship. Even if they are in the hundreds of thousands.
Q: Are you referring to Saudi Arabia?
A: "Intelligenti pauca." Human rights, in their entirety, are for all, everywhere.
Q: Recently in Holland there exploded the case of a film that compares the Qur'an to Hitler's "Mein Kampf." What do you think about this?
A: I have not seen the film. But if this comparison is made, I view it as a comparison of great vulgarity. It is one thing to be able to evaluate in a rational, objective, and critical manner some aspects of a religion or some statements by representatives of this religion, which is obviously admissible. But it is another thing to offend and mock the religious sensibility of a people with general accusations, or accusations that touch upon the most sacred aspects of a religion. This is inadmissible. We repeated this in the final statement that we released after the meeting held at al-Azhar, where pope Benedict XVI's words to the new ambassador of Morocco in 2006 were cited: "for the purpose of fostering peace and understanding among peoples and human beings, it is necessary that their religions and symbols be respected, and that believers not be the object of provocations that cause harm to their commitment and to their religious sentiments."
Q: At the press conference that followed the meetings on March 4-5, one of the participants on the Muslim side again criticized the pope's address in Regensburg.
A: But this new phase of conversation with Muslims is due precisely to the pope's address in Regensburg! Not all Muslims received the pope's address in Regensburg in a negative way. The relationship between faith and religion will soon be the object of in-depth study together with some Muslim partners of our dicastery. Also, Benedict XVI has explained very well what the correct interpretation of that address should be. During the meeting at al-Azhar, for example, no one made the slightest mention of it.
Q: What could be the effect of this new phase of Islamic-Christian dialogue for the Christian communities in the Middle East?
A: The problem is that of knowing if this new atmosphere of dialogue will pass from the theoretical-intellectual level to the practical level; if, that is, it will have repercussions on the social and political level. I hope that this will become a shared commitment.
Q: What do you think about the news that an Islamic thinker will soon begin to write for "L'Osservatore Romano"?
A: I seem to have understood that this hypothesis could become a reality in a few months. This would be to the credit of "L'Osservatore Romano" and of the writer who would agree to place his name in the newspaper of the Holy See. And it would also be an encouragement, an invitation to reciprocity, in such a way that Christian authors as well might write for Islamic publications.
Q: About the principle of reciprocity. Did you discuss this with the representatives of the 138?
A: Of course. We also talked about it during the meeting in Egypt, at al-Azhar. We brought up the fact that until now this principle, in spite of some passages in the Qur'an that would justify its application, is not always respected in practice. Let's hope it goes well in the future.
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The newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference, in which the interview with cardinal Tauran was published:
> Avvenire
And the viewpoint of a Muslim delegate, Aref Ali Nayed, after the meeting on March 4-5, in an article from Catholic News Service, the online agency of the United States bishops' conference:
> Vatican, Muslim representatives establish Catholic-Muslim Forum
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The words of Benedict XVI, in commemorating the martyrdom of the archbishop of Mosul, at the end of the Mass for Palm Sunday:
> "Al termine di questa solenne celebrazione..."
And the pope's homily at the Mass for his repose, celebrated on Monday, March 17:
> "Siamo entrati nella settimana santa..."
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The background of the visit to the Vatican by the delegation of the 138 Muslim signatories of the letter "A Common Word," with links to all of the articles from www.chiesa on this topic:
> Five Muslims at the Vatican, to Prepare the Audience with the Pope (6.2.2008)
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Among the many contributions from Khaled Fouad Allam that have appeared on www.chiesa, his comment on Benedict XVI's lecture in Regensburg:
> Two Muslim Scholars Comment on the Papal Lecture in Regensburg (4.10.2006)
On the phenomenon of Shiite Islam:
> From Lebanon to Central Asia, the Rise of Shia Muslims (8.8.2006)
On the conflicts within the Islamic world:
> Why the Real War Is Inside Islam (19.4.2007)
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As every year, on Good Friday the offerings from the faithful all over the world are directed to the Christians living in the Holy Land. The purposes for this collection are explained in this letter by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the congregation for the Oriental Churches, accompanied by an account of what was done with the offerings from 2006 and 2007:
> Letter on the occasion of the collection for the Holy Land
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English translation by
Matthew Sherry, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
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19.3.2008
