Pope backtracks after Muslim outcry

[Al-khiyal]

· U-turn quietly reinstates council for inter-faith talks

· Earlier decision to dissolve body had fuelled mistrust

May 29, 2007 -- Pope Benedict XVI has moved to allay Muslim concerns over his commitment to understanding between the faiths by performing a u-turn on one of his most hotly contested Vatican reforms.

Eight months after prompting an outburst in the Islamic world, the Pope has quietly decided to reverse the downgrading of the Vatican department responsible for dialogue with other religions. His original decision was an important reason why even moderate Muslim representatives and scholars had greeting the then-new Pope with mistrust and responded with indignation to his remarks.

Until last year the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue was a fully-fledged Vatican "ministry" headed by the British expert on Islam, Michael Fitzgerald. In March 2006, in one of his first bureaucratic initiatives, the Pope merged the council with the Vatican's culture ministry and sent Archbishop Fitzgerald to Cairo as the envoy to the Arab League.

According to some sources close to the Vatican, the move reflected Pope Benedict's conviction at the time that a full theological dialogue with Muslim representatives was impossible.

Others insisted the criticism was a misunderstanding, since the inter-religious section retained its autonomy in the new "super-ministry".

But it was nevertheless widely seen as a slap in the face by the representatives not only of Islam but of other world religions. Some observers argued that the furore last September over the Pope's comments on Islam would not have happened had Archbishop Fitzgerald been on hand to advise him.

The Pope quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor as saying Islam had only brought evil to the world and was spread by the sword. He later said his words were taken out of context and he regretted any misunderstanding; but by then churches had been attacked in the Middle East and a nun murdered in Somalia.

No announcement was made of the latest change of tack. The news was slipped out at the weekend by the Vatican "prime minister", Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who heads the Secretariat of State.

In an interview with the daily La Stampa, he was quoted as saying: "The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue is to be set up again as a dicastery [ministry] in its own right."

Cardinal Bertone appeared to suggest it was his department that had lobbied for the rethink. He said: "The change demonstrates the importance for the Secretariat of State of inter-religious dialogue."

It was not immediately clear whether Archbishop Fitzgerald would be brought back from Egypt to take up his old post.

This was the second time in five days that Pope Benedict had shifted his position in response to international sensitivities. Last Wednesday, following widespread criticism in Latin America of remarks he made about the evangelisation of the continent, he gave a clarification of his position to pilgrims in Rome.

Having earlier said the conversion of indigenous peoples to Christianity had not involved the imposition of a foreign culture, he acknowledged it was accompanied by "suffering [and] injustices inflicted by the coloniser".

Pope backtracks after Muslim outcry

[Al-khiyal]

VATICAN CITY, May 28, 2007: Pope Benedict XVI has decided to restore the power and prestige of the Vatican department that oversees dialogue with Islam.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in an interview during the weekend with La Stampa newspaper that the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue would again become "a separate department."

In March 2006, Benedict downgraded the office by putting it under joint presidency with the Vatican's culture ministry and removing its president, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, a Briton.

Both Catholics and Muslims in inter-faith dialogue criticized the move, with many saying that it sent a negative signal to the Islamic world.

Vatican sources said Monday that Bertone's comments meant the department would again soon get its own director. "This would be a very positive thing for Muslims," said a senior Muslim official long active in inter-faith dialogue.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said Muslims had interpreted the merger of the department with the Vatican's culture ministry as a sign that Benedict wanted to focus interfaith work on relations with other Christian churches.

Catholic-Muslim dialogue is still feeling the negative effects of Benedict's speech last September in which he appeared to equate Islam with violence.

In the speech in Regensburg, Germany, the pope quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor as saying Islam had only brought evil to the world and that it was spread by the sword, a method that was unreasonable and contrary to God's nature.

He later said he regretted any misunderstanding that it had caused among Muslims, after protests including attacks on churches in the Middle East and the killing of a nun in Somalia.

When a former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, met the pope on May 4, he said wounds between Christians and Muslims were still "very deep."

Pope Benedict XVI upgrades Vatican's relations with Islam

[_DigitaLVampirE_]

LONDON. MAY 29. KAZINFORM. Pope Benedict XVI has reversed a controversial decision he took a year ago to downgrade the Vatican department which deals with the Islamic world.

The Council for Interreligious Dialogue will be restored to its former position as a department in its own right.

It is not clear if the department's former head, British Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, will also be reinstated.

His removal was seen as a sign the Pope was more interested in improving ties with other Christian denominations.

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says that by reversing his decision, which was interpreted negatively in the Muslim world, the Pope has tacitly admitted that this was a mistake.

Relations between the Vatican and Muslims have deteriorated over the past year, particularly over remarks made by the pontiff during a visit to Germany last September, in which, some thought, he appeared to equate Islam with violence.

The Pope insisted his words had been taken out of context and that he meant no offence to the Muslim religion.

Merger reversal

In a rare about face, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told the Italian newspaper, La Stampa, that the Council for Interreligious Dialogue would again become a "a dicastery in its own right".

In March 2006, the Pope had downgraded the office by merging it with the Pontifical Council for Culture.

"The change highlights the importance of inter-religious dialogue," Cardinal Bertone said.

The cardinal did not, however, indentify who would be asked to lead the council after its reinstatement.

The last president Archbishop Fitzgerald, an expert on Islamic affairs, was appointed papal nuncio to Egypt and the Vatican's representative at the Arab League in Cairo.

Our correspondent says the archbishop, a fluent Arabic speaker, is much respected as a negotiator for the Vatican within the Muslim world, Kazinform quotes BBC News.

News by Kazinform