VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict on Wednesday met Iranian officials who had attended a seminar that condemned the use of religion to justify violence.

Eight officials from Iran’s Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation met the pope after attending his general audience.

They had been participating in talks with Roman Catholic officials on “Faith and Reason in Christianity and Islam”, which concluded that faith and reason are both intrinsically non-violent.

“Neither reason nor faith should be used for violence.

Unfortunately, both of them have been sometimes misused to perpetrate violence,” a joint statement said.

Both sides expressed the need to cooperate, promote spirituality and encourage respect for sacred religious symbols.

“Christians and Muslims should go beyond tolerance, accepting differences while remaining aware of commonalities and thanking God for them,” it said.—Reuters