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P 221516Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0819
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0849

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 VATICAN 000151 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SOCI VT
SUBJECT: "A COMMON WORD" -- NEW DEVELOPMENT IN INTERFAITH DIALOGUE 
 
VATICAN 00000151  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  A large and diverse group of Muslim scholars 
has issued a document addressed to the Pope and other prominent 
Christian leaders, inviting them to a theological dialogue.  The 
document, entitled "A Common Word Between Us and You", is the 
fruit of long labor guided by a Jordanian institute, and has 
already prompted numerous welcoming responses from some of the 
recipients and from other commentators.  Its fundamental 
argument is that Muslims and Christians are both enjoined by 
their respective holy texts to observe two principles above all 
-- love of God, and love of one's fellow man.  The 
groundbreaking document is a very positive step toward taking 
the global stage (in terms of religious debate) away from 
extremists; it invites the world's Christian communities to 
contemplate a similarly thoughtful and broad-based response. 
Embassy recommends consideration of a public USG response, and 
greater USG participation in events bringing together leading 
Muslim and Christian scholars and clerics.  End summary. 
 
Islamic Scholars Reach out to Christians 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. (U) On October 12, 2006, thirty-eight prominent Muslims wrote 
an "Open Letter to the Pope", addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and 
politely seeking to engage him on positions he took in his 
controversial Regensburg lecture of the month before (which was 
devoted to the topic of faith and reason, but included opening 
reference to critical comments made about the Prophet Mohammed 
by the 14th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologos). 
The letter supported the freedom to profess one's faith without 
restrictions, asserted the rational consistency of Islam, and 
restated the limits upon recourse to war and violence in Islamic 
teaching.  It also expressed hope for a relationship between 
Islam and Christianity founded upon love of God and neighbor, 
the "two great commandments" of Jesus according to the gospel of 
Mark.  The Holy See did not respond to that letter. 
 
¶3. (U) One year later, on October 11, 2007, a group of 138 
highly-respected Muslim scholars have followed up on the 
original letter by sending a second letter, entitled "A Common 
Word Between Us and You", this time to a larger audience.  In 
addition to Pope Benedict XVI, the addressees include leaders of 
the Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, and 
Baptist Churches, as well as the Secretary General of the World 
Council of Churches and "leaders of the Christian Churches" in 
general.  The 138 signatories represent 43 countries in Africa, 
the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America, as well as the 
Organization of the Islamic Council (OIC); many are personally 
known to Holy See officials in Rome. 
 
¶4. (U) The document stems from an initiative by the King of 
Jordan and the Aal al-Bayt (Family of the Prophet) Foundation in 
Amman, led by the King's uncle Prince Hassan (a Muslim married 
to a Hindu).  Aal al-Bayt had reportedly been working on the 
idea for three years.  The letter was issued in English, Arabic, 
French, Italian, and German.  The text, along with lists of 
signers and addressees and responses received, is available at 
www.acommonword.org. 
 
Presentation in Washington, London, and Dubai 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) "A Common Word" -- the title is taken from the third sura 
of the Quran, verse 64 -- was presented publicly at press 
conferences in Dubai, London, and Washington, D.C.  John 
Esposito, director of a center for Muslim-Christan understanding 
at Georgetown University, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an Iranian 
scholar at George Washington University, spoke at the October 11 
press conference (at the National Press Club) in Washington, DC, 
presenting the letter. 
 
¶6. (U) Esposito described the letter's releases as a historic 
event -- the first time ever that Muslims have come together in 
such numbers to agree on what binds them theologically to 
Christians -- and noted the diversity of the participants, who 
represent a broad spectrum of Muslim thought.  He noted that the 
letter poses a challenge to Christianity:  can Christians come 
together to reply, as Muslims did to write the letter?  The 
document is also an effort to re-take the stage; in other words, 
extremists of various sorts have confused both Christians and 
Muslims as to the real identity of the other, and the mainstream 
in each case needs to regain control of its image. 
 
¶7. (U) Nasr pointed out that although Christian-Muslim 
theological debate took place in Europe during the Middle Ages, 
there has been a remarkable lack of such interaction in the 
centuries that followed.  He touched on the difficulty of 
organizing scholars representing Sunni and Shia perspectives 
from many different schools, and the still greater difficulty of 
getting them to agree on a single approach to Christians. 
Christians, particularly Catholics, have been carrying on 
interfaith meetings with Islam since 1957, but these have been 
 
VATICAN 00000151  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
small-scale efforts and have been frequently derailed by 
obstacles (such as the conflict between the Christian concept of 
the Trinity vs. Islam's concept of the unity of God).  "A Common 
Word" instead seeks to identify only two fundamental principles 
--love of God and love of one's neighbor -- upon which to build 
agreement between Christians and Muslims.  All Christians, and 
all Muslims, must observe these two principles. 
 
Encouraging Response from Recipients 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶8. (U) Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who in September of this year 
assumed leadership of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious 
Dialogue (and is thus the Pope's principal aide on these 
matters), promptly welcomed the second letter on October 12, 
praising it on Vatican Radio as a "very interesting and novel 
document" coming from both Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and 
including numerous citations from the Old and New Testaments. 
Tauran called it "a very encouraging sign".  The Archbishop of 
Canterbury and former British PM Tony Blair are among other 
prominent people who have welcomed "A Common Word". 
 
A Catholic Analysis 
--------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Father Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian Jesuit teaching in 
Beirut who is well-regarded in the Vatican, is a frequent and 
often critical commentator on Islam.  His long response to "A 
Common Word" (also available at the website) analyzes it as a 
good first step, though one which should go further.  He 
observes favorably the increased number of signatories and the 
fact that they represent Muslims from 43 nations and include 
great muftis, religious leaders, and scholars.  He also notes 
the inclusiveness of the signatories, which number Sufis, 
Ismailites, and Jafaarites among others. 
 
¶10. (U) Samir points out that in Islamic tradition, faith is 
founded on three sources:  the Quran, the hadith (sayings and 
tales from the Prophet's life), and the ijmaa (community 
consensus).  "A Common Word" is a positive step toward shaping 
ijmaa, and one with virtually no precedent.  The continuity 
between the first and second letters is also a positive feature, 
and the vocabulary in "A Common Word" is Christian rather than 
Muslim.  For example, the term "love" seldom appears in the 
Quran and is not one of the names of God, but is widely used in 
Christianity.  In other words, the document's signers have 
chosen to use terminology acceptable to Christians rather than 
insisting on their own.  The document, in quoting from the Old 
and New Testaments, takes for granted that the Bible is the word 
of God -- a novelty in Muslim practice.  It also quotes St. 
Paul, usually rejected by most Muslims (on grounds that he 
distorted Christ's message, for example by introducing the 
concept of the Trinity).  Samir notes that the letter quotes a 
Quranic verse on tolerance which comes near the end of the Quran 
and thus cannot be abrogated or overruled by a later verse 
(according to traditional Quranic interpretation) -- a nice 
choice to conclude the letter. 
 
¶11. (U) Samir suggests that a logical next step in the process 
might be trying to broaden the area of agreement between 
Christians and Muslims to include some of the elements of sacred 
Scripture, and to be more truly universal (not limited to 
Christians and Muslims).  He cautions that one problematic point 
is the document's reference to Muslims being not against but 
with Christians -- "on condition that Christians do not declare 
war" -- perhaps a reference to Iraq.  On a hopeful note, Samir 
points out that Pope Benedict XVI, in an October 5 speech to the 
International Theological Commission, spoke of a natural moral 
law justifying "the foundations of a universal ethic" which in 
turn forms the basis for entering into dialogue with all people 
of goodwill; he argues that the Pope, like the signatories of "A 
Common Word", is trying to find a common basis for dialogue 
which is not Scriptural but rather based on natural law.  (Note: 
 Cardinal Tauran has said much the same to Embassy.) 
 
Comment 
------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) The appearance of the "Open Letter" a year ago 
provoked considerable attention in Rome, and the absence of any 
formal reply from the Holy See struck many observers as a missed 
opportunity and perhaps a bit of a snub.  The issuance of "A 
Common Word" raises the stakes.  As remarked by Aref Ali Nayed, 
a UK-based Libyan theologian and signatory of both letters, "A 
Common Word" marks the most dramatic instance to date of a 
Muslim consensus proposal to the Christian world.  Both letters, 
in their tone of reasonable discourse meant in a spirit of 
reconciliation, attempt to undermine the notions that Muslims 
are not interested in dialogue or cannot respond collectively to 
the dangerous religious extremism of today's world. 
 
 
VATICAN 00000151  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) As noted above, "A Common Word" takes the issue 
further both substantively (in proposing specific areas of 
Scripture-based agreement) and tactically (in mustering a wider 
range of signatories and addressees).  The Holy See and the 
Catholic world, as the largest and most centralized audience for 
the letter, will be on the spot to help craft a formal response 
in the coming months.  Pope Benedict, perceptibly less warm to 
interreligious dialogue than his predecessor, has nevertheless 
given indications of openness on the subject.  Cardinal Tauran's 
welcome of "A Common Word" is encouraging, as are the embraces 
of other religious and political leaders. 
 
¶14. (SBU) The invitation to dialogue represented by "A Common 
Word" is religious on one level, but political on another. 
Embassy Vatican recommends that Department consider a USG public 
welcome to the initiative (if one has not already been issued). 
In addition, public diplomacy efforts should be considered to 
increase USG diplomatic engagement with the participants in this 
dialogue, i.e. leading Christian and Muslim scholars.  One such 
opportunity would be greater USG participation in the annual 
International Prayer for Peace, co-sponsored by the Community of 
Sant'Egidio; the Prayer was held in Washington, DC in spring 
2006, and is currently taking place in Naples, Italy.  While 
Embassy Vatican makes a point of participating (and Under 
Secretary Hughes addressed the Washington event), broader 
 
SIPDIS 
Department and USG participation in future events would be 
useful both as a symbol and also for networking purposes. 
SANDROLINI