VATICAN
CITY, March 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Muslims,
Christians and Jews must collaborate to teach respect for religions
and their symbols, promote peace and engage in a dialogue, Pope
Benedict XVI has said.
"This
is especially important today when particular attention must be given
to teaching respect for God, for religions and their symbols, and for
holy sites and places of worship," he told a visiting delegation
of the American Jewish Committee Thursday, March 16, according to
Reuters.
He
was referring to global protests over the cartoons that lampooned
Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as well as the
attacks in recent months on churches, mosques and synagogues in
several countries.
Religious
leaders had a responsibility to "work for reconciliation through
genuine dialogue," the Pope said.
"Judaism,
Christianity and Islam believe in the one God, creator of heaven and
earth.
"It
follows, therefore, that all three monotheistic religions are called
to cooperate with one another for the common good of humanity, serving
the case of justice and peace in the world," he said.
The
Pope has condemned the cartoons, first published by a Danish newspaper
and later in other European papers, which Muslims believe it is
blasphemous to depict the Prophet.
But
he also said violent protests against the perceived offence were
wrong.
In
the wake of the unrest, Roman Catholic and Jewish leaders agreed
earlier this month to widen their two-way dialogue to involve Muslims.
Two
weeks ago, the Vatican and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel underlined
the importance of a dialogue with Islam, according to Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
Jewish
Challenge
David
Rosen, director for inter-religious affairs at the American Jewish
Committee and a member of the delegation that met the Pope, said
reaching out to Islam was "the challenge of our time",
according to Reuters.
"We
believe it's very difficult not only because it's hard to find
moderate voices (in the Muslim world) but also because those voices,
if they come forward, could be endangered by extremists."
Leading
Muslim intellectuals and scholars said in December last year that
recognizing Islam as a faith and Palestine as a Muslim country are
essential to break the current impasse in inter-faith dialogue.
The
current spree of inter-faith forums cannot bridge the gap between the
West and the Muslim world as differences are basically political and
not religious, leading Muslim intellectuals and scholars have agreed,
scholars and intellectuals said last year.
