To his credit, Pope Benedict XVI met with representatives from the German Islam community yesterday while in Cologne. Here is the report from today’s Boston Globe:
Benedict did not directly criticize Islam in his meeting with Muslim leaders. But he chose the setting to bring up the issue of terrorism, a subject he did not raise in separate meetings with Jewish and Protestant leaders on Friday. Benedict has previously declined to say whether he thinks Islam is a religion of peace, saying last month, ”Certainly it has elements that favor peace, as it has other elements."
”I turn to you, dear Muslim friends, to share my hopes with you and to let you know of my concerns at these particularly difficult times in our history," he said. ”I am certain that I echo your own thoughts when I bring up as one of our concerns the spread of terrorism."
The pope referred to terrorism as ”a perverse and cruel decision which shows contempt for the sacred right to life and undermines the very foundations of all civil society. . . . If together we can succeed in eliminating from hearts any trace of rancor, in resisting every form of intolerance and in opposing every manifestation of violence, we will turn back the wave of cruel fanaticism that endangers the lives of so many people and hinders progress toward world peace."
Benedict acknowledged that Christians and Muslims have waged wars in the past — perhaps an allusion to the Crusades. ”The recollection of these sad events should fill us with shame," he said. He added that both sides should learn from history and seek reconciliation, in part by protecting religious freedom — a concern for Christians in many Muslim countries — because ”respect for minorities is a clear sign of true civilization."
It is unfortunate, if understandable, that he used the meeting primarily to denounce terrorism rather that the need to establish a permanent and deep dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and Islam. Here is the view from the German Web site Islam.de:
Bei der gestrigen Audienz von Papst Benedikt XVI. überreichte Dr. Nadeem Elyas dem Pontifex im Namen des Zentralrats der Muslime in Deutschland (ZMD) ein Prachtexemplar des Koran mit der deutschen Übersetzung seiner Bedeutung (siehe Bild).
Bei dieser erstmaligen Begegnung zwischen dem Vatikan und den Muslimen in Deutschland vermittelte der Vorsitzende die Grüße des Zentralrats und brachte seine Erwartungen und Anregungen mit folgendem Wortlaut zum Ausdruck:[…] Aus tiefstem Herzen wünschen wir uns, dass da der Dialog zu einer festen Institution wird, vielleicht in Form eines ständigen Dialogforums zwischen dem Vatikan und den in der islamischen Welt anerkannten internationalen Institutionen, wie Al-Azhar, die Organisation der Islamischen Konferenz, die ISESCO und die Muslim-World-League.
Probleme der Menschenrechtsverletzungen, der Globalisierung, der Überschuldung ganzer Kontinente, des Fanatismus, Rassismus und Terrorismus, sowie die Bereiche Moral und Ethik, Familie und Ehe, Spiritualität und Frömmigkeit geben große Möglichkeiten des solidarischen Handelns und werden uns die großen Gemeinsamkeiten unserer Offenbarungsreligionen deutlich machen.
It is significant that one of the leaders Benedict met with was Rdvan Cakir of the Turkish Islamic Union, who represents the hopes and aspirations of the 3.2 million Turkish-German community. In his book Werte in Zeiten des Umbruchs Cardinal Ratzinger seemed to oppose the idea of Turkey or any other predominantly Muslim state as being a part of Europe, since Europe was built historically on "Christian values". Earlier in the day Benedict met with Angela Merkel, and as the CDU enters the heated phase of the election campaign the party is again playing the anti-Turkey card, appealing to the anti-Muslim prejudice of many German voters:
Nach einem Bericht der "Welt am Sonntag" hat sich der "Entscheiderkreis" der Union bereits darauf verständigt, das Thema Türkei verstärkt zu behandeln. Die "Bild am Sonntag" meldete ohne Angaben von Quellen, Unions-Kanzlerkandidatin Angela Merkel und CSU- Chef Edmund Stoiber wollten in dieser Woche eine Initiative gegen eine Aufnahme der Türkei in die EU verkünden.
It will be interesting to watch whether Benedict follows through in a broader dialogue with Islam and how that plays with Muslims in Germany and throughout Europe.
Less noticed and certainly less volatile was a flap with the Protestant church in Germany. Before arriving in Cologne Pope Benedict announced that World Youth Day would receive a receive a plenary indulgence if they attend any of the events or the closing Mass with prayerful devotion, receive the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist and offer prayers for the intentions of the pope. The issue of indulgences is a senstive issue with Protestants, and it surfaced again here after Benedict met with Lutheran Bishop Huber in Cologne:
Huber sagte, auch wenn die katholische Kirche die Praxis des Ablasses offiziell nie abgeschafft habe, stelle sich die Frage, inwiefern sich der neue Ablaß mit der Gemeinsamen Erklärung zur Rechtfertigungslehre vereinbaren lasse, die 1999 zwischen Vatikan und Lutherischem Weltbund vereinbart wurde. Bei der einstündigen Begegnung mit dem Papst habe er das Thema aber nicht angeschnitten, weil es sich in der Kürze der Zeit nicht hätte klären lassen, sagte Huber.
You can read the Joint Declartion on the Doctrine of Justification that Huber refers to here. It is also noteworthy that the Vatican chose which Protestant represtentatives could meet with the pope: women bishops were expressly excluded. Finally, the Vatican made sure that Internet connections at the event would filter out any heretical viewpoints.
