Vatican City, 24 January 2015 (VIS) –
“In recent years, despite various misunderstandings and
difficulties, strides ahead have been made in interreligious
dialogue, even with followers of Islam. Listening is essential for
this. It is not only a necessary condition in a process of mutual
comprehension and peaceful co-existence, but it is also a pedagogic
duty in order to 'acknowledge the values of others, appreciate the
concerns underlying their demands and shed light on shared beliefs'”,
said Pope Francis this morning, as he received in audience the
participants in a meeting organised by the Pontifical Institute for
Arabic and lslamic Studies (PISAI), commemorating the fiftieth
anniversary of its foundation. The meeting was held at the Pontifical
Urbanian University from 22 to 24 January on the theme: “Studying
and Understanding the Religion of the Other. Towards Mutual
Recognition between Religions and Cultures in Today’s World”.
Francis emphasised the need for
adequate education, “so that, secure in our own identity, we can
grow in mutual knowledge. We must take care not to fall prey to a
syncretism that is conciliatory but ultimately empty and a harbinger
of a totalitarianism without values. A comfortable and accommodating
approach, 'which says “yes” to everything in order to avoid
problems', ends up being 'a way of deceiving others and denying them
the good which we have been given to share generously with others'.
This invites us, first of all, to return to the basics”.
“At the beginning of dialogue there
is encounter”, he continued. “This generates the first knowledge
of the other. If, indeed, we start from the presumption of our common
human nature, it is possible to overcome prejudice and falsehood, and
to begin to understand the other from a new perspective”. Francis
remarked that now there is a need, like never before, for an
institution dedicated expressly to research and the formation of
dialogue with Muslims, since “the most effective antidote to any
form of violence is education in the discovery and acceptance of
difference as richness and fruitfulness”. This task, affirmed the
Pope, is not easy, but “is born of and matures from a strong sense
of responsibility”.
He continued, “Islamic-Christian
dialogue, in a special way, requires patience and humility
accompanied by detailed study, as approximation and improvisation can
be counterproductive and or even the cause of unease and
embarrassment. There is a need for lasting and continuous commitment
in order to ensure we do not find ourselves unprepared in various
situations and in different contexts. For this reason it demands a
specific preparation, that is not limited to sociological analysis
but rather has the characteristics of a journey shared by people
belonging to religions that, although in different ways, refer to the
spiritual fatherhood of Abraham. Culture and education are not
secondary to a true process of moving towards each other that
respects in every person “his life, his physical integrity, his
dignity and the rights deriving from that dignity, his reputation,
his property, his ethnic and cultural identity, his ideas and his
political choices”.
The Pope expressed his wish that this
“valuable” Institute, may increasingly become “a point of
reference for the formation of Christians who work in the field of
interreligious dialogue” and that it may establish a fruitful
collaboration with other Pontifical universities and research
centres, both Christian and Muslim, throughout the world. He
concluded by encouraging the community of the PISAI “never to
betray the primary task of listening and dialogue, based on clear
identities and the keen, patient and rigorous search for truth and
beauty, which are placed in the hearts of every man and woman and
truly visible in every authentic religious expression”.
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