September 15, 2008	Monday	Ramazan 14, 1429

LOURDES (France), Sept 14: The Roman Catholic Church wants to pursue inter-religious dialogues that discuss theological differences openly and to avoid polite meetings that simply lead nowhere, Pope Benedict said on Sunday.

Visiting the Lourdes shrine in south-western France, he told French bishops that interfaith dialogue was a vital necessity in a globalised world but not all efforts at it were worthwhile.

Inter-religious meetings have multiplied in recent years, especially between Christians and Muslims. In November, Benedict will meet Islamic scholars promoting dialogue to overcome misunderstandings between the world’s two largest faiths.

Saudi King Abdullah has launched a parallel initiative and hosted a large interfaith meeting in Madrid in July attended by Muslims, Jews and Christians, including the Vatican’s top official for dialogue with Islam.

“Goodwill is not enough,” Benedict said, a reference to the many efforts in recent decades especially with Muslims that have not produced much progress in overcoming tensions because participants usually avoided the most difficult issues.

“One must follow closely the various initiatives that are undertaken, so as to discern which ones favour reciprocal knowledge and respect as well as the promotion of dialogue, and so as to avoid those which lead to impasses,” he said.

“I believe it is good to begin by listening, then moving on to theological discussion, so as to arrive finally at witness and proclamation of the faith itself.”

Inter-religious contacts have grown in the 40 years since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) opened the Catholic Church the world’s largest to dialogue with other faiths. But many Christian-Muslim efforts hardly get beyond polite conversation.

The Sept 11 attacks in the United States prompted renewed efforts for mutual understanding, but Benedict’s 2006 Regensburg speech implying Islam was violent and irrational convinced Muslim intellectuals that more work was needed.

Last October, 138 Muslim scholars urged Christian leaders to discuss what they said was the common belief of both faiths that love of God and neighbour is the path to salvation.

The Vatican’s top official on Islam, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, said discussing theology with Muslims was impossible because they do not analyse the Koran critically, a comment that prompted Muslim scholars to say he did not understand Islam.—Reuters