HOLY SEE: BUILDING ON "A COMMON WORD", VATICAN WILL HOST

C O N F I D E N T I A L VATICAN 000005

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/4/2018
TAGS: PREL KIFR VT
SUBJECT: HOLY SEE: BUILDING ON "A COMMON WORD", VATICAN WILL HOST
MUSLIM DELEGATION IN THE SPRING FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUECAR

REF: (a) VATICAN 003, (b) 07 Vatican 181 and previous

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

1. (C) Summary. The Holy See has announced that a delegation of
Muslim scholars representing the 138 signatories of "A Common
Word" will meet Vatican representatives in Rome this spring for
a "historic" dialogue between the two faiths. This is a
dramatic development. The Catholics and Muslims involved have
shown goodwill and courage in launching a potentially
far-reaching dialogue, though both sides are certain to proceed
with great caution. End summary.


2. (U) Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue, gave an interview December
30 to L'Osservatore Romano in which he announced that Catholic
and Muslim representatives will meet in Rome this spring to
start a "historic" dialogue between the two faiths. The Muslim
delegation will come on behalf of the 138 Muslim scholars who
signed "A Common Word" (reftels) last fall; the document was
addressed to the Pope and other Christian leaders and proposed
just such a dialogue. According to Tauran, the agenda for the
spring meeting will include human dignity, interreligious
dialogue based on reciprocal understanding, and teaching
tolerance to young people. The delegation will also meet with
other Vatican entities, including the Pontifical Institute for
Arab and Islamic Studies (PISAI).


3. (U) Tauran also said three representatives of the 138
scholars will come to Rome in February or March to prepare for
the spring meeting. Among these three will be Imam Yahya Sergio
Yayhe Pallavicini (ref A) and Libyan theologian Aref Ali Nayed.
Tauran himself is planning to travel to Cairo in February for
meetings with scholars at the famed Al-Azhar university there;
he will also travel to Libya to visit the World Islamic call
Society, and to Jordan to visit the Royal Institute for
Inter-Faith Studies in Amman.

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

4. (C) This is a significant and dramatic development. Just
over a year ago, Pope Benedict XVI's relations with the Muslim
world were in jeopardy following his Regensburg lecture (in
which he quoted a Byzantine emperor's harsh words about the
Prophet Mohammed). The Pope regained some ground with his
gracious gestures during his December 2006 visit to Turkey. The
138 Muslim scholars who signed "A Common Word" were following up
on an earlier letter to the Pope, signed by 38 of them, which
was a polite but serious response to the Regensburg lecture.
Now there is unquestionable commitment by the Holy See and the
Muslim scholars to undertake a long-term dialogue which can
perhaps aspire to follow in the footsteps of the successful
Catholic-Jewish dialogue begun decades ago. Tauran's journeys
to Egypt, Libya, and Jordan are themselves highly significant
and should do much to set the stage for an even broader dialogue.


5. (C) While the goodwill and courage of both sides are
undeniable, both will proceed with great caution; the desire for
dialogue is paramount, but trust can only be developed slowly.
The 138 scholars are important, but cannot claim to speak for
the entire Muslim world, and even internally they differ on key
issues. Similarly, the Holy See is not united on how welcoming
to be to the Muslim initiative. The two sides have work to do
on defining the terms of reference for their dialogue; for
example, some insist that theological dialogue is impossible and
that only cultural and ethical concerns can be usefully
discussed, while others are more ambitious with regard to
doctrine and basic beliefs. Underlying the entire effort, of
course, is the unspoken but universally recognized issue of
religious violence and terrorism. This theme will probably be
addressed only obliquely, given its sensitivity and "political"
rather than religious character, but it will influence all
discussions.

SANDROLINI