Pope Benedict XVI has responded to the invitation of Islamic scholars for dialogue. He plans to meet Islamic scholars in the spring. MSNBC quotes the head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, as remarking that the meeting will have a tripartite strategy. Tolerance, inculturation issues and pro-life activities will be stressed. All this has to be contextualized in the light of Pope Benedict’s past comments on the Islam. He had angered Muslims by quoting medieval sources which condemned the violence in Islam.
The main stream media in it characteristic way presents all this inter-faith talks in such a simple manner that it seems that all conflicts can and will be resolved after round-table talks. In fact, history proves otherwise. Long ago, St. Francis of Assisi had met a Moslem Sultan. Though the latter was deeply impressed by the sanctity of the Saint, yet he did not start liking Christianity any the more for it. Often unfortunately such meetings only buttress differences.
The post Vatican II Church has a very definite agenda for evangelisation. And the present Pope is a stickler for continuity and tradition. For him the Catholic Church represents the Body of Christ, albeit mystical Body. He will never budge from this dogma. The Islamic scholars on the other hand consider the Holy Quran as coming down from Heaven and in fact, an extension of Allah Himself. So the Quran’s message cannot be compromised. They too have their own agendas of evangelisation. Then there are the grassroots problems; we have the fundamentalists of both Faiths. The Islamic Jihadis will want to subvert and foil every attempt by religious leaders to compromise. In fact, this meeting will not yield anything substantial. As it were, both parties are under invisible compulsion to sit down for talks. But their ideologies are so hardened and formed that the depth of the conference could only be in the pleasantries.
Then should we not have peace-seeking inter-religious dialogues? Of course, inter-faith dialogues are important but they should never be held as knee-jerk responses to diplomatic crises. This conference is being held as a crisis management exercise by both the Vatican and the Muslims. They may not now realise it, the outcome of such meetings will determine the real living conditions of the people of both Faiths. The Middle East Peace process may become a victim of such rashly held talks.
Via & Image: MSNBC
