INTER-RELIGIOUS COMMITTEE: EXTREMISM MUST BE CONDEMNED

VATICAN CITY, FEB 27, 2002 (VIS) - A communique made public today announced that, on February 23, representatives of the dialogue committee of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and of the permanent committee for dialogue with monotheistic religions of Al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, met in the offices of the pontifical council.

The two delegations, headed respectively by Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the pontifical council, and Sheikh Fawzi Fadel Zafzaf, president of the permanent committee, discussed the theme of "religious extremism and its effect on humanity."

During the discussions the following points were made:

- Extremism, from whatever side it may come, is to be condemned as not being in conformity with the teachings of the two religions.
- Extremists, particularly religious extremists, can sometimes be sincere in their intentions, yet they tend to see themselves as the only ones in the right and to show intolerance to those who do not agree with them, not accepting others with their differences, tending to violate the rights of others, and sometimes using or approving violence.
- To counteract extremism dialogue can be useful provided that the conditions for a positive outcome can be guaranteed.
- Yet dialogue alone is not sufficient to overcome extremism; there is always need for attention to basic aspects of society: family life, education, social development, the influence of the mass media, promotion of justice and solidarity within countries and on an international scale.
- The two bodies composing the committee resolved, each for its part, to continue on the path of dialogue and to influence public opinion in order to bring about a rejection of extremism.

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