More from France... and the French
Aug 08, 2007
Meanwhile, as he prepares to take the reins of the church's liaisons with the Muslim world as head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran offered an assessment of the Iraq occupation, touching particularly on the state of Iraqi Christians:
(Whispers in the Loggia, 07/08/2007)
Meanwhile, as he prepares to take the reins of the church's liaisons with the Muslim world as head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran offered an assessment of the Iraq occupation, touching particularly on the state of Iraqi Christians:
During the buildup to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Tauran... had criticized the U.S. government's plan of preventative war and said a unilateral war against Iraq would be a "crime against peace."
In a recent interview with the Italian magazine 30 Giorni, the cardinal said his early criticisms had been prophetic.
"The facts speak for themselves. Alienating the international community (with the U.S. push for war) was a mistake," he said in the magazine's Aug. 10 issue. A copy of the interview was released in advance to journalists.
He said an "unjust approach" was used to unseat Saddam from power, resulting in the mounting chaos in Iraq today.
"Power is in the hands of the strongest -- the Shiites -- and the country is sinking into a sectarian civil war (between Sunni and Shiite Muslims) in which not even Christians are spared," he said.
Christians, "paradoxically, were more protected under [Saddam's] dictatorship," he said....
Tauran told 30 Giorni, "We have to do everything so that religions spread brotherhood and not hatred."
The Vatican's efforts at bridge-building with Muslims hit a speed bump when the pope's remarks on Islam in a September speech in Regensburg, Germany, prompted negative reactions across the Muslim world.
When asked if the pope's Regensberg address had compromised the Vatican's dialogue efforts with Muslims, the cardinal replied, "At first, yes."
"But later, especially during his subsequent trip to Turkey, the pope explained himself very well," the cardinal said.
He said Pope Benedict has great respect for Muslims.
The controversies that arose after Regensburg only highlighted the importance of having a specific Vatican department dedicated to dialogue with Islam and other religions, he said.
"Thank God the erroneous interpretations of the Regensburg speech did not stop the development of relations -- diplomatic, too -- with Islamic nations," he said, giving the example of the recent establishment of full diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and the Vatican.
Interreligious dialogue should not promote the idea that all religions are equal, he said, but that all religions "which are seeking God must be respected because they have the same dignity."
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