HOLY SEE: CONVERSATIONS ON INTERFAITH RELATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 000017

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/29/2018
TAGS: PREL KIFR VT
SUBJECT: HOLY SEE: CONVERSATIONS ON INTERFAITH RELATIONS

REF: Vatican 005 and previous

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CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Sandrolini, Charge d'affaires, EXEC,
State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1. (C) Summary. Senior Holy See officials and scholars
discussed interfaith relations with the visiting Deputy
Assistant to VP Cheney, Joseph Wood, January 14-15. Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran and Father Miguel Ayuso described the
increasing Church engagement with the signers of "A Common
Word", commenting on both the opportunity presented by this
initiative and some of the difficulties posed by dialogue with
Islam. Cardinal Tauran and Bishop Brian Farrell described
relations with Orthodox Christians -- generally positive with
Greek Orthodox, more nascent and tentative with Russian
Orthodox. Interreligious dialogue, thought to be in disfavor in
Rome just two years ago, is now quite prominent, and has
important political aspects. End summary.


2. (U) During a January 14-15 visit to Rome, Deputy Assistant to
the Vice President Joseph Wood discussed the Holy See's
relations with Muslims in meetings with Father Miguel Ayuso --
Rector of the Pontifical Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies
(PISAI) -- and with Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Wood also
discussed Catholic-Orthodox relations with Bishop Brian Farrell,
Vice President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity. Charge d'affaires also attended these meetings.

Relations with Islam
--------------


3. (C) Father Ayuso noted that "A Common Word Between You and
Us" was a dramatic step that had created a "golden chance" for
relations between Christianity and Islam. The document (see
reftel) now has 211 signatories, up from the original 138, and
the number is growing steadily. The document has now been
disseminated throughout the world and is attracting increasing
attention. Three of the original 138 signatories would be
coming to Rome for preliminary talks with the Holy See: one
Italian, one Jordanian, and one Libyan. (Note: from Italy -
Imam Yahya Pallavicini, from Libya - Dr. Aref Ali Nayed.) Two
working teams have been set up at the same time, one at PISAI
itself, the other at the Aal al-Bayt Foundation in Amman. Later
in the spring, a larger Muslim delegation would come to Rome for
a more formal session with the Holy See.


4. (C) Ayuso noted that the signers of "A Common Word" are
generally very knowledgeable about Christianity. However, many
Muslims do not, and Muslims interested in dialogue will have to
work to overcome the reluctance and fears of others in their own
community; the same is true for Christians. The Orthodox, for
exmaple, have responded only hesitantly. Still, Ayuso had not
heard of any overt opposition within the Muslim world to "A
Common Word". Ayuso emphasized the need for Christians to
support open-minded Muslims and help Islam progress after
centuries of intellectual stagnation. The Islamic world needs
reform, and the signers of "A Common Word" have taken the
initiative to accelerate that reform. Christians should not
miss this chance to help that process. At the same time, the
Christian response must proceed at the right pace; it will not
do to rush ahead. Expectations have already become high. Apart
from the delicacy of the Christian-Muslim dialogue itself, each
side must also take great care to coordinate internally -- by no
means an easy task.


5. (C) Cardinal Tauran observed that there is "no separation"
between religion and politics in Islam, and that in dealing with
Islam one is always in a sense dealing with the entire
population. He said Muslims tend to be very sensitive, having a
kind of inferiority complex. Tauran recalled that after his own
comments to the French daily La Croix (October 2007) suggesting
theological difficulties in Catholic-Muslim dialogue, Muslims
were "very offended" and challenged his right to define their
faith.


6. (C) "A Common Word" changed the reality for everyone, and now
"we are condemned to dialogue" as Tauran put it. Pope Benedict
XVI is adamant that this dialogue develop properly, and it will
be a great challenge for the Church for the next fifty years.
The Church has an obligation to help in the formation of younger
Muslims, and to aid the renaissance of intellectual life in
Islam. (Note: Tauran was careful to distinguish between Arabs
and Iranians in this context, observing that Persian culture has
always been very sophisticated.) The Church must work with Gulf
countries, which are open-minded; and with the new generation.
Much depends on the Saudis. Tauran said he was not privy to
last November's conversation between Saudi King Abdullah and the
Pope, but understood that the conversation had remained at a
fairly abstract level and was also thus far essentially confined
to the two principals; there was no lower-level substantive
coordination, nor has there been detailed followup.


7. (C) Apart from theological issues, Tauran said American
Middle East policy is a major factor in dialogue with Islam.
Muslim publics look at the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq --

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with US forces on the soil of Muslim countries -- and tend to
see them as instances of Christianity versus Islam. Resolution
of the Israeli-Palestinian situation is the most critical
factor. More specifically, resolution of this conflict would
certainly lead to improvements in interreligious dialogue, and,
conversely, failure to progress toward resolution would
inevitably limit the potential of interfaith dialogue. Tauran
expressed great interest in President Bush's recent Middle East
travel and his remarks during that trip. He suggested that
President Bush must have seen first-hand the difficulties of
ordinary Palestinian life when his own motorcade had to pass
through Israeli checkpoints at Ramallah. The Israelis, said the
cardinal, claim that access to international holy places has
never been so easy as it is now, with those holy places under
Israeli control; but this is simply not true in his opinion,
even though "they don't like it when I say so".

Relations with Orthodox
--------------


8. (C) Bishop Farrell said dialogue with the Orthodox falls into
two distinct patterns. With the Byzantine world, dialogue is
going very well, perhaps even too fast to keep up with. The
exchange programs for students and priests established by
Catholics in past decades are now being reciprocated by the
Orthodox. With the Russian world, things are more formal and
difficult. They consider themselves the true Orthodox; the
Greek Orthodox are in a weak position to contest this, given
their problems with Turkish policy. The Russian church acts as
an arm of Putin's policy, though the situation has improved
lately. Catholic dialogue with Russian Orthodox tends to
stumble unnecessarily when, for example, minor disagreements are
blown out of proportion. (For example, the Missionaries of
Charity -- Mother Teresa's organization -- are not really
engaged in missionary work, i.e. conversions, but the name has
caused problems in Russia.)


9. (C) Farrell said the Russian church is "free" for the first
time in centuries. The younger generation is more interested in
relations with Rome. Thinking for example of Russia's harsh
demographic realities, Farrell noted that the Russian church
will need to step up its ministry to the spiritual needs of the
country in the hard years that lie ahead. Farrell mused that
Catholics expect the faithful to participate as individuals in
their religion, whereas Russian Orthodox retain a more
collective understanding of religious identity. In addition,
many of their priests are old and never received any proper
religious formation. The Knights of Malta are helping address
this problem.


10. (C) Cardinal Tauran also commented on relations with the
Orthodox, saying they have their own channels for interfaith
dialogue, but are beginning to take seriously the idea of
cooperating with other Christian denominations in this regard.
Tauran said he met (Greek Orthodox) Patriarch Bartholomew last
fall in Naples and discussed this, and had also talked about it
with (Russian Orthodox) Patriarch Alexy. Like Farrell, Tauran
pointed out that the Russian Orthodox were essentially cocooned
for 70 years, and it will take time for them to fully
reintegrate into interfaith dialogues; they have an inferiority
complex of their own.

Comment
--------------

11. (C) As the above conversations make clear, the Holy See is
very serious about its various dialogues with other major
religions. The dialogue with the Orthodox is relatively mature,
with some modest signs of progress now evident on centuries-old
disputes -- though the path ahead will be long and difficult.
With Islam, on the other hand, the "Common Word" initiative has
emerged rather suddenly and has stimulated real enthusiasm,
mixed with deep-rooted caution. Tauran's skepticism is evident,
but his commitment is genuine. Post will continue to report on
these interfaith relationships with particular attention to
their political echoes, and looks forward to hearing from other
posts about local reaction to these trends.
SANDROLINI