Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06VATICAN122
2006-06-27 07:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vatican
Cable title:  

HOLY SEE: CARDINAL POUPARD'S VIEWS ON ISLAM

Tags:  PREL VT 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHROV #0122/01 1780759
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 270759Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0383
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC CONFERENCE COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 0001
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0411
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)

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