HOLY SEE: CARDINAL POUPARD'S VIEWS ON ISLAM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 000122 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/26/2016 TAGS: PREL VT SUBJECT: HOLY SEE: CARDINAL POUPARD'S VIEWS ON ISLAM REF: (A) VATICAN 067 AND PREVIOUS (B) VATICAN 043 VATICAN 00000122 001.3 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Sandrolini, Deputy Chief of Mission, EXEC, State. REASON: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Holy See's new principal voice on matters Islamic, Cardinal Poupard, told Ambassador that the Pope wants dialogue with Muslims to focus on the local level and to be approached through a framework of culture rather than of theology. Poupard's confident remarks are further evidence of the shift in Holy See thinking toward Islam under Pope Benedict XVI, one marked by a harder line and greater expectation of reciprocity from Muslims. Moscow please see para 10. End summary. ¶2. (C) Ambassador and DCM called June 23 on Cardinal Paul Poupard, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture. As a result of Pope Benedict XVI's March decision to make Poupard the head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (ref b) as well as that of the Pontifical Council for Culture -- in a sense incorporating the one into the other -- Poupard is also the leader of the Holy See's dialogue with Islam. BIO NOTE: Poupard, a native French speaker, appears to understand English but conducted the meeting in Italian. ¶3. (C) Poupard opened the meeting with reflections on his 25-year tenure at his dicastery (Culture, formerly known as the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non-Believers),beginning with Pope John Paul II's mandate for the Church to "think about culture" and his observation that culture (including questions of life, death, love, etc.) provided a privileged forum for dialogue with other faiths. He continued by emphasizing that no true inter-religious dialogue can occur without culture, and noted that Benedict wants this dialogue to focus on the local level rather than being directed by Rome. NOTE: Poupard encouraged this in his role as culture chief by opening locally-directed cultural centers in many parts of the world, which he says promote common ground between cultures and religions. END NOTE. ¶4. (C) It is important to recognize the diversity of other faiths, said Poupard; for example, dialogue with Islam is different when it involves those already in power, as opposed to those who represent a Muslim minority. Poupard likened Islam to Marxism in this sense, suggesting that it could be used as a political tool. Dialogue is essential, he said, but we must watch to ensure it is not "instrumentalized". To illustrate his point, he noted what we have heard countless times here when discussing Catholic-Muslim relations: that while the Pope is the chief authority for a Church of one billion Catholics, Islam lacks a similar central authority; and small Muslim groups sometimes seek to enter into dialogue with the Pope in hopes of enhancing their own status. "Dialogue" has become a kind of magic word to many, but dialogue in fact is often ambiguous. ¶5. (C) Poupard said that true interreligious dialogue -- with its implication of theological and doctrinal exchange -- can only happen between Christians with a common faith and source of belief. With Jews, Christians have a special relationship based on common fundamental texts; with Asians (i.e. Hindus, Buddhists, et al.) who lack a personal concept of God, there is no such relationship. Christians cannot have a dialogue with Chinese on faith, he said, but can do so on questions of life and religious experience and cooperation. Poupard characterized Islam as a special case. For Muslims, the Koran is all-encompassing and unchangeable, "like a stone that dropped from the sky". The community (ummah) is all. Christians recognize the division between the realm of God and that of Caesar, and therefore distinguish between the Bible and, say, the Napoleonic Code. Muslims, by contrast, once in power are prone to insist on applying the shari'a to all aspects of life. ¶6. (C) Poupard raised the concept of reciprocity, recalling John Paul II's use of the term at a luncheon 25 years ago when speaking of atheists. The key question, he said, is "cui bono?" (who benefits?); and the answer, he suggested, is that dialogue is in fact more beneficial to them (other faiths, especially Islam) than to us (the Church). Poupard said he would be traveling to Moscow for the World Summit of Religious Leaders (July 3-5, hosted by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church) and would speak there about reciprocity. He called it the greatest gift Christians can bring to the new millenium. Poupard spoke of the importance of creating a serene climate in which Christians and Muslims could better understand each other. He hoped that in Moscow it would be possible to agree on some formula to condemn as blasphemy all violence and terrorism VATICAN 00000122 002.3 OF 002 conducted in the name of God. ¶7. (C) Poupard asked the ambassador about the role of Islam in the United States. Ambassador responded that fortunately the melting pot tradition in the U.S. remained valid; we have yet to encounter any group of migrants who weren't willing to become Americans in all senses (though we currently face a new challenge with regard to Hispanic migrants). So far it appears that American Muslims are no exception. Our open traditions, labor markets, mobility, etc. all contributed to the success of this model. Poupard ruminated about his own country, France, which had seen generations of migrants for 2000 years: from the Catholic Mediterranean, then Catholic Slavs in the 20th century. Now, however, things are different; parents no longer want to assimilate. Politicians don't know which way to turn. He felt that violence by immigrants is primarily a symptom of an alienation already existing. ¶8. (C) Agreeing with the ambassador that the perpetrators of 9/11 were in fact "imports", Poupard felt that culprits in France fell into the same category. Islam is not monolithic. Poupard closed with an appreciation of the power of American culture, which he considers very positive and very important; he likened it to St. Paul's invocation of Roman citizenship, which commanded respect everywhere. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) Poupard's confident remarks support the widely held view (reftels) that Benedict's transfer of Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald -- who formerly headed the Council for Inter-religious Dialogue -- marked a significant change in the Holy See's approach toward Islam. That change reflects a belief that the Church's embrace of interreligious dialogue (begun after Vatican II and boosted during John Paul II's tenure, particularly since his 1986 International Prayer for Peace in Assisi) had perhaps ventured down the wrong road, and had certainly not produced the hoped-for response from other religions and particularly Islam. The new approach explicitly sharpens the conceptual differences between Islam and Christianity, since the two are no longer considered close enough to permit theological dialogue. With Fitzgerald's voice muted, we can expect the tone from the Holy See to be slightly harder; there will be more calls for the Islamic world to organize itself in the interests of peace and understanding, and more expectation that Islamic clerics will act to rein in extremist voices. Poupard also implied that the Pope will be less open to "feel-good" meetings with Islamic groups or figures of minor status. ¶10. (SBU) For Moscow: if Embassy Moscow plans to cover the World Summit (see para 6) we would be very interested in your comments about it. ROONEY