The National Council of Churches is boasting of its participation in Christian-Muslim dialogue at Yale Divinity School running July 28-31.  Hosting the lovefest is Yale Professor Miroslav Volf and his Reconciliation Program at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, who together organized last year’s Christian response to a manifesto by Muslim clerics addressed to Christians called “A Common Word …

“The common understanding here is that we have different theological languages but the ultimate object of our discussion is the same,” Kalin. (Google photo) NEW HAVEN — More than 150 Muslim and Christian scholars are meeting this week in Yale University to foster better understanding under a Muslim initiative on commonalities between Islam and Christianity. “The common understanding here is …

Top Christian and Muslim leaders have convened at Yale University for a historic conference that is expected to promote understanding and peace between Christianity and Islam on an unprecedented level. The conference, “Loving God and Neighbor in Word and Deed: Implications for Muslims and Christians,” will officially be held July 28-31 but leaders from both faiths have initiated dialogue on …

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (Reuters) – Senior Christian and Muslim scholars and leaders are meeting in the United States this week seeking common ground in their different faiths to foster better understanding between Islam and the West. Hosted by Yale University Divinity School, the conference is the first public dialogue launched by Muslim intellectuals in the Common Word group that appealed …

UNITED NATIONS – / MaximsNews Network / 28 July 2008 — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has welcomed A Common Word and provided a substantial reflection on it in a letter sent to Muslim religious leaders and scholars. The Archbishop’s letter, entitled ‘A Common Word for the Common Good’, comes after a period of world-wide consultation within the …

Loving God and Neighbor in Word and Deed: Implications for Christians and Muslims Yale Center for Faith and Culture Reconciliation Program Background. In our increasingly interdependent world, religion remains a powerful force with the potential to either foster peace or provoke conflict. A unique and potentially history-changing opportunity has arisen with the publication of A Common Word Between Us and …

New York, July 24, 2008 – The National Council of Churches will be part of the dialogue July 28-31 when more than 150 Christian and Muslim leaders gather at Yale University to promote understanding between the two faiths. “Christians and Muslims have gone through periods of good relations and bad relations over the centuries,” said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, the NCC’s …

NEW HAVEN, Conn: More than 150 Muslim and Christian leaders, including some of the world’s most eminent scholars and clerics, will gather at Yale University July 28-31 to promote understanding between the two faiths, whose members comprise more than half the world’s population. Prominent political figures and representatives of the Jewish community also will speak at the conference, which launches …

The groundbreaking three-day interfaith World Conference of Dialogue which closed yesterday in Madrid appears to have caught international imagination, perhaps in no small part because Saudi Arabia, a conservative state to some, was the prime mover behind the gathering. In his opening address Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah told the 300 attendees, mostly Muslim, Christian and Jewish …

Sir- However well-meaning Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was in seeking “understanding between the faiths” (“Williams: Christian doctrine offends Muslims”, report, July 16), his letter to Islamic leaders was ill-conceived, as it sends out a message of appeasement at a time when Christians are suffering persecution in certain Muslim countries. In the absence of a similar letter to …

Dr Rowan Williams sent a letter to Islamic leaders this week in which he called for an alliance between the two faiths “for the common good”. He admitted that the belief in the Trinity is “difficult, sometimes offensive, to Muslims”. But thHe also claimed that the existence of a variety of religions can be good for communities. It comes after …

MADRID — With an appeal for “constructive dialogue” and search for common ground, an groundbreaking Saudi-sponsored interfaith conference kicked off on Wednesday, July 16, in Spain, bringing together followers of the world’s leading faiths. “We all believe in one God… We are meeting here today to say that religions should be a means to iron out differences and not to …

The Archbishop of Canterbury – the leader of the world’s Anglicans – has sent a letter to Christian and Muslim leaders inviting them to a conference in October to tackle religious violence and freedom to worship. The open letter, posted on Archbishop Rowan Williams’s website, acknowledges that certain parts of Christianity may be “difficult” or “offensive” for Muslims. Archbishop Williams …

NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 15, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — More than 150 Muslim and Christian leaders, including some of the world’s most eminent scholars and clerics, will gather at Yale University July 28-31 to promote understanding between the two faiths, whose members comprise more than half the world’s population. Prominent political figures and representatives of the Jewish community also …

Key elements of Christian doctrine are offensive to Muslims, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said in a letter to Islamic scholars. Dr Rowan Williams also spoke critically of the violent past of both religions and Christianity’s abandonment of its peaceful origins. His comments came in a published letter to Islamic leaders, intended to promote closer dialogue and understanding between the …

Christian doctrine is offensive to Muslims, the Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday.  Dr Rowan Williams also criticised Christianity’s history for its violence, its use of harsh punishments and its betrayal of its peaceful principles. His comments came in a highly conciliatory letter to Islamic leaders calling for an alliance between the two faiths for ‘the common good’.  The Archbishop of …

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has welcomed A Common Word and provided a substantial reflection on it in a letter sent to Muslim religious leaders and scholars. The Archbishop’s letter, entitled ‘A Common Word for the Common Good’, comes after a period of world-wide consultation within the Anglican Communion and across the Christian denominations, most notably in last month’s …

Many prominent Evangelicals have begun to decry publicly the rigid, sectarian fundamentalism of the religious right and to call for profoundly increased interfaith dialogue and wiser approaches to US-Mideast relations Charles STROHMER Many Christians in America have a blinkered view of the Muslim world. Terribly misinformed, they tend to stereotype non-Western Muslims as religious-political extremists, instead of understanding the many …

 |Religious leaders, scholars and business people are meeting all over the world to argue about free speech and Islamic sensibilities. How much does this achieve? DEBATES about Islam and the West can throw up unexpected tensions. Take the American and the Brit, successful young professionals who met recently at a seaside resort in Egypt. As it happens, both were devout …

Interfaith dialogue has become the flavour of the year. Two weeks ago the former prime minister of Britain, Tony Blair, launched a Faith Foundation aimed at increasing dialogue between the major religions. Then last week, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia hosted a conference in Mecca and won the approval of 500 Islamic clerics and scholars to engage in dialogue with …

Saudi King Abdullah at Mecca interfaith dialogue conference, 4 june 2008/Ho New – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah looks determined to get his proposal for an unprecedented Muslim- Christian-Jewish dialogue off the ground. A three-day conference in Mecca to discuss this ended with a soaring declaration of goodwill and benevolent intent. Saudi media reported that Muslim clerics from around the world …

SCHOLARS GIVE POSITIVE ASSESSMENT OF A COMMON WORD FORESEE IMPLICATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS A premier group of experts on Christian-Muslim dialogue and interreligious relations assembled at Georgetown University to discuss “A Common Word Between Us and You,” which has stirred widespread discussion of Christian-Muslim relations since its release in October 2007. The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding …

The Archbishop of Canterbury convened an ecumenical gathering earlier in the week to discuss ways in which Christian-Muslim engagement might be strengthened and deepened. It brought together more than 40 participants from a broad range of geographical, cultural and denominational settings, and comes against the backdrop of the A Common Word letter from 138 Muslim scholars to Christian leaders declaring …

Gives Case of Christian-Islam Relations as Example LONDON, MAY 28, 2008 (Zenit.org) – Is interreligious dialogue a risk or an opportunity? It’s both, said the president of the pontifical council dedicated to overseeing it. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, spoke Tuesday at the University of London’s Heythrop College about the many facets of dialogue. …

Muslim leaders must be more outspoken about violence in the name of religion, a senior Vatican official urged yesterday. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Pope’s principal adviser on Islam, said that while the majority of Muslim clerics condemned acts of terrorism, they needed to be more vocal about jihad, especially because of its frequent appearances in the Qur’an. The cardinal made …

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Catholic Church’s interfaith council says a new spirit of openness among younger Muslims is improving the “climate” of interreligious dialogue Younger Muslims are radically altering the “climate” of interfaith dialogue, the head of the Vatican’s Council for interreligious dialogue has said. “There is a change of climate [in interreligious dialogue] now” said Cardinal Jean-Louis …

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council of Interreligious Dialogue, yesterday (27 May) gave a speech at Heythrop College entitled ‘Interreligious dialogue – a risk or an opportunity?’ “It is always in the interest of leaders of societies to encourage interreligious dialogue and to draw on the spiritual and moral heritage of religions for a number of values likely …

The disconnects among different worlds come through powerfully at World Economic Forum (WEF) meetings. Bringing everyone together under one tent is a feat all by itself, but once they get there they can talk quite different languages. The WEF is best known for the Davos meeting it organizes each January, but a long series of regional meetings takes place under …

“I would like to invite the Holy Father to visit our country, following in the footsteps of St. Paul.” “I am available for a meeting at the Vatican. I would like to see him one on one to plan the visit together.” VATICAN CITY (CNA) – Sheik Ahmad Badereddine Hassoun, Syria’s grand mufti and top Sunni Muslim religious authority, has …

King Abdullah II of Jordan has given a plot of land to the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem for construction of a church and retreat center at the much-visited Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan site, where, according to tradition, Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist took place. In officially dedicating the two-and-a-half-acre site on March 28, Anglican bishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem called the gift …

(CNSNews.com) – During his recent visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI attended an interfaith gathering at the John Paul II Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C., to speak with members of several faiths, including American Muslim leaders. His goal was to stress the importance of inter-faith communication and, especially, to further the Catholic Church’s policy of maintaining good relations …

Bell Pottinger is working with polling firm Gallup to promote better understanding of Muslims in the West. The agency has been brought in to promote the Muslim West Fact Initiative project, a database containing ordinary Muslims’ opinions on world issues and relations with the West. The data have been taken from Gallup’s ‘Poll of the Muslim World’, which asks Muslims …

From a presentation by Rev. Tom Michel at an April seminar called “The Future of Christian-Muslim Relations: Where Do We Go From Here?” co-sponsored by Georgetown Univeristy. Since 1996, Michel has served as Director of the Jesuit Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome, Italy, and as Ecumenical Secretary for the Federation of Asian Bishop’s Conference. A reflection on 40 years …

Ethics and Public Policy Center The Tampa Tribune John Paul II arrived in Warsaw on June 2, 1979; there and then, he ignited the revolution of conscience that would give birth to the Solidarity movement, the Revolution of 1989 – and the end of European communism. Distinguished secular historians of the Cold War now argue that John Paul’s first pilgrimage …

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a leading civil rights group, Thursday (April 17, 2008) declined to join a meeting between the visiting Pope Benedict XVI and about 200 religious community leaders in Washington, DC, due to the absence of a “meaningful dialogue on Muslim-Catholic issues.” The Pope’s meeting with Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist and other religious leaders came …

Benedict XVI’s visit to the U.S. will be watched closely by people in America and across the world. Many will flock to see him; seats at Yankee Stadium have already been sold out. However, the Pope is relatively new to the job and remains enigmatic and unpredictable on many issues. Most Americans and most around the globe still know little …

Much has been made of reports that the Vatican is holding talks with Saudi Arabia on building churches in the Gulf monarchy, the birthplace of Islam and stronghold of the conservative Wahhabi school of thought. But it’s hard to imagine imminent breakthroughs, given broad-based scholarly opposition anchored in prophetic traditions and centuries of jurisprudence and commentary. The IslamOnline (IOL) web …

Two years after Benedict XVI’s comments about Islam sparked protests around the world, the pontiff is once again in conflict with Muslims. This time, friction between the Vatican and Muslims is delaying the construction of what would be Saudi Arabia’s first church. A small group of prominent Islamic scholars recently stood at the airport in Rome, waiting to be picked …

Moscow, Apr. 16, 2008 (CWNews.com) – Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II has responded to the 138 Islamic leaders of the “Common Word” initiative, saying that Christians and Muslims should find ways to cooperate in support of common moral principles. “Today Christianity and Islam do quite an important thing,” the Russian prelate wrote in his response to the Islamic leaders; “they …

With his visits to a synagogue and a mosque, his acknowledgment of the sins of Christians against Muslims and Jews, and his decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, Pope John Paul II won the appreciation and trust of believers of other faiths the world over. His successor, meeting Thursday with leaders of other faiths during his first American visit, …

It is the privilege of the United States today to welcome Pope Benedict, shepherd of the globe’s 1.1 billion Catholics, for the first trip to America of his pontificate. Papal travels by their nature generate excitement and fervor. There’s plenty of both in New York in anticipation of the three days Benedict plans to spend here starting Friday. Tickets to …

[Nihad Awad is co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties group.] As one of 138 Islamic leaders and scholars from around the world who last October signed the first-of-its-kind “A Common Word Between Us and You” open letter intended to promote understanding between Muslims and Christians, I welcome Pope Benedict XVI on his …

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops acknowledges a troubled history in Christian-Muslim relations — a past that includes the crusades and holy wars of the Middle Ages. American bishops point to recent efforts at reconciliation by the Catholic Church, including Pope John Paul II’s visit to a Christian and Muslim holy site in Syria in 2001. How will Pope Benedict …

Benedict XVI will visit president, address U.N. during 6-day visit When Pope Benedict XVI visits Washington, D.C., and New York this week, he’ll be following the tough act of his popular predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who traveled the world and whose seven U.S. visits drew millions of worshippers and ignited a youth renewal movement in the church. So far, …

Among those who the Pope himself baptised during the Easter vigil celebration at the Vatican was well-known journalist Magdi Allam. The baptism was reported prominently in Italy not only because he is a leading journalist but also because, at least officially, he was a Muslim before he converted to Christianity. As expected, the conversion and its prominence were not well …

ROME — When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the Vatican’s stern watchdog on church doctrine, critics often described him as “God’s Rottweiler.” But many say the German-born cleric now known as Pope Benedict XVI will pleasantly surprise Americans during his first visit to the United States as pope. “The further you get away from Rome, the more people seem to rely …

Another Christian group responds to last fall’s Muslim letter advocating for peace. Five months after 138 Muslim clerics and scholars penned a plea for inter-religious and world peace, “A Common Word Between Us and You”—and four months after the Yale Center for Faith and Culture responded with “Loving God and Neighbor Together”—the World Evangelical Alliance has released its own response …

Robert Kelly Inter-religious … dialogue between Christians and Muslims is … a vital necessity, on which in, large measure our future depends. … Christians and Muslims … make up more than 55 percent of the world’s population. … the relationship between these two religious communities (is) the most important factor in contributing to meaningful peace around the world. — Open …

NEWSCHANNEL 8 SCRIPT: ANCHOR: WHEN POPE BENEDICT VISITS DC NEXT WEEK, HIS TRIP WILL, NO DOUBT, BE CLOSELY WATCHED BY THE CATHOLIC FAITHFUL. BUT THE POPE’S REACH, STRETCHES WELL BEYOND THE CONFINES OF THE CHURCH. NEWSCHANNEL 8′s JACKIE CONGEDO EXPLORES THE PONTIFF’S CONNECTION TO LEADERS AND PRACTITIONERS OF ALL FAITHS.  STORY: FARHANAHZ ELLIS OF THE ISLAMIC ADAMS CENTER IN FAIRFAX …

Courage and Conversion Last month in St. Peter’s Basilica, in an Easter vigil mass broadcast throughout the world, Pope Benedict XVI received seven people into the Roman Catholic Church. Among them was journalist Magdi Allam. Allam was born a Muslim in Egypt and has been an outspoken critic of Islamist terrorism as a writer for Italy’s leading daily newspaper Corriere …

The document “A Common Word Between Us and You” released by Muslim clerics to the Christian world has a history that goes all the way back to November of 2004, even earlier.  After King Abdullah of Jordan released his “Amman Message” to unify world-wide Islam around the value of peace and the rejection of terrorism, a movement has developed with a …

Religious Liberty: the pivotal issue in these pivotal days — Apostasy, and the baptism of Madgi Allam Historically the outcome of pivotal moments in Christian-Muslim relations have been determined by military might: the Arab Muslim conquest of the Byzantine Jerusalem (AD 638); the Arab Muslim conquest of Byzantine Heliopolis; Egypt (AD 640); the Ottoman Muslim conquest of Byzantine Serbian Kosovo (1389); …

Saudi King Abdullah’s plan for an interfaith conference that would include Jews, announced last week, was the third Muslim gesture in six months aimed toward a Jewish-Muslim interfaith dialogue. The outreach began in October, when 138 Muslim clerics, scholars, and political leaders presented a document called “A Common Word,” which directly addressed Christianity but implicitly addressed Judaism as well. By …

Etchmiadzin, Apr. 2, 2008 (CWNews.com) – The Armenian Apostolic Church has responded warmly to an invitation from Muslim leaders for inter-religious dialogue, saying that all religious leaders should unite to condemn hatred and terrorism. In a reply to the 138 Muslim leaders who signed the “Common Word” initiative last late year, Archbishop Yeznik Petrosian, the chief ecumenical officer for the …

Should Christians dialogue with Muslims? Some prominent conservative Christians approach such a question with deep suspicion, if not downright opposition. For example, Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has criticized evangelicals who signed a Christian letter to Muslims last fall, saying their participation reflected “naiveté that borders on dishonesty.” A Web site produced by James Dobson’s Focus on …

By combining low-grade sourcing, a faux-authoritative voice, and leftist political spin in equally impressive measures, Michael Sean Winters and the editors of the Washington Post’s “Outlook” section have won the pole position in this year’s chase for the coveted Father Richard McBrien Prize in Really Inept Vaticanology (named for the Notre Dame theologian who memorably announced that Joseph Ratzinger couldn’t …

Mollie Z. Hemingway at Get Religion is confounded by an obnoxious Newsweek essay by Christopher Dickey titled “Christian Rage and Muslim Moderation.” In it, you can see the Cold War echoes in it, with Newsweek taking up the usual schtick: the American (or conservative, or anti-Islamic) side is being clumsily, pointlessly, tastelessly provocative, while the Ayatollahs are calmly, reasonably planting …

Vatican, Mar. 28, 2008 (CWNews.com) – Responding to concerns raised by a prominent Muslim scholar, the Vatican has distanced itself from the criticism of Islam expressed by Magdi Allam– the reporter who was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) at the Easter vigil. Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, released a statement in reply …

Muslim’s Baptism Creates a Furor; Vatican Retreats ROME — For nearly a decade, Magdi Allam provided a charismatic voice for moderate Islam. Urging fellow Muslims to denounce terrorism and recognize the state of Israel, he was hailed as a bridge between faiths. On the night before Easter, the Cairo, Egypt-born editorial writer for an Italian newspaper burned his bridge down. …

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Benedict XVI welcomed into the Catholic Church a Muslim-born journalist often critical of Islam, it was not a sign that the pope accepts everything the journalist believes, said the Vatican spokesman. The Italian journalist, Magdi Allam, “has the right to express his own ideas. They remain his personal opinions without in any way becoming …

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Thursday distanced itself from an Egyptian-born journalist and vocal critic of Islamic extremism who was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at the weekend. “Welcoming a new believer into the Church obviously does not mean espousing all of his ideas and positions, in particular on political or social themes,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in …

The letter that 138 Muslims wrote to the Pope and all other Christian religious authorities has had many reactions. Even in Bangladesh Muslims and Christians are following a path of dialogue that will lead them to officially meet for the first time on 18 April for a conference entitled “A Common Call: Muslims and Christians”. The event, which is being …

On Easter this week, controversy has swirled around Pope Benedict XVI, both for personally baptizing a prominent Muslim Italian journalist and for allowing the revived Latin mass to hope that Jews convert. Aside from Osama bin Laden’s ravings about a “new Crusade,” Muslims have attacked the Pope for his “provocative” act. Similarly, regarding the Latin mass, German Jewish leader Charlotte …

VATICAN CITY (AFP) The Vatican on Thursday distanced itself from an Egyptian-born journalist and vocal critic of Islamic extremism who was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at the weekend. “Welcoming a new believer into the Church obviously does not mean espousing all of his ideas and positions, in particular on political or social themes,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in …

VATICAN CITY: The convert from Islam who denounced what he called “inherent” violence in Islam a day after Pope Benedict XVI baptized him was not expressing the pope’s views, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday. Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born deputy editor of Corriere della Sera newspaper and frequent commentator on Islamic terrorism, “has the right to express his own ideas, which …

Since 9/11 anti-Muslim feeling has spread like a wildfire in our nation. “Jihad” is often considered as the way of all Muslims. Sadly this is especially true among many Christians — followers of Jesus, who lived and died to lead all persons to the Way, the Truth and the Life. I hope that the following story, with the help of …

Professor Aref Al Nayed has complained about the baptism by Pope Benedict XVI of Magdi Allam on the Easter Vigil. the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, issued this note in response… The note by Professor Aref Ali Nayed concerning the Baptism administered by the Pope to Magdi Allam on the Easter vigil merits close …

Barack Obama at School Just as the GOP were winding up to paint Barack Obama as Osama bin Laden, the entire Jeremiah Wright fiasco has proven Barack Obama to be a baptised Christian who donated $20,000 to his Christian Church of 20 years last year. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Two weeks ago when John McCain wrapped up the …

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican sought on Thursday to put distance between Pope Benedict and the political views of a Muslim whom he baptised over Easter weekend, known in Italy for his stinging attacks on Islam. It also tried to quell Muslim fears about proselytism at Christian schools in Muslim nations, like the one the Egyptian-born convert once attended. …

In a rebuke of Saturday’s televised ceremony, the head of Jordan’s Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center Aref Ali Nayed denounced ”the Vatican’s deliberate and provocative act of baptising Allam on such a special occasion and in such a spectacular way”. The head of Jordan’s Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center on Wednesday called the baptism of journalist Magdi Allam a deliberate …

Idea for conference born out of Yale’s response to Muslim leaders’ call for increased understanding Following a call from both Muslims and Christians for increased contact and dialogue between the religions, Yale will host an unprecedented conference in July — designed to bring together up to 300 Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders in hopes of fostering peace and bettering …

BBC Mr Allam’s baptism plans had been kept secret by the Vatican A Muslim scholar involved in high-level dialogue with the Vatican has denounced the Pope’s baptism on Saturday of a prominent Italian Muslim convert. Aref Ali Nayed, the head of Jordan’s Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, called the baptism of journalist Magdi Allam a deliberate and provocative act. The …

For immediate release – 26/03/2008 10:24:40 AM CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS MUST ENHANCE COMMON GROUND AND ACKNOWLEDGE DIFFERENCES, SAYS WCC Love for one’s neighbour is “an essential and integral part of faith in God and love of God” for both Islam and Christianity. How Christians and Muslims can engage in reflections of this love together is the central theme of a …

PARIS (Reuters) – The World Council of Churches, which groups the main non-Catholic Christian churches, urged its members on Wednesday to open a dialogue with Muslim scholars seeking inter-faith cooperation to promote justice and peace. The Geneva-based WCC said it wanted to organise discussions on theology and ethics with signatories of A Common Word, a call for Christian-Muslim dialogue issued …

AREF ALÍ NAYED Spokesman for the Muslim scholars having dialogue with the Christian Aref Ali Nayed holds an official post, that of director of the Royal Institute of Strategic Studies of Islam in Amman, but in recent months he has been the spokesman for some 200 Muslim scholars who have initiated a dialogue with the Christian community, having signed the …

Pope Benedict XVI is to rehabilitate Martin Luther, arguing that he did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices. Pope Benedict will issue his findings on Luther (1483-1546) in September after discussing him at his annual seminar of 40 fellow theologians — known as the Ratzinger Schülerkreis — at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer …

Dialogo non è una bella parola ma so­prattutto un metodo. Lo ha ribadito ie­ri a Napoli il cardinale Jean Louis Tau­ran, presidente del Pontificio Consiglio per il dialogo interreligioso, lanciando una propo­sta: «Abbiamo una nostra road-map da se­guire: fare delle religioni un nome di pace». Certo, il quadro internazionale si presenta spesso «cupo» e sono riapparsi pulizie etni­che, lager, crimini …

This Pope is very confusing and mysterious.  On the one hand he has accepted a plea by Muslim scholars for dialogue, and set up a team to plan this dialogue.  On the other we have his Regensberg address, some unusual Vatican appointments, and and now the high profile Easter Sunday Baptism of converts to Catholicism including that of Magdi Allam, …

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, which is the home of Islam’s most holy shrines and adheres to a hardline Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam, has for the first time announced plans to launch a dialogue between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. “I want to call for conferences between the religions to protect humanity from folly,” he told a forum in Riyadh. …

ROME (CNS) — The Muslim-born journalist baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at the Easter Vigil said he wanted a public conversion to convince other former Muslims not to be afraid of practicing their new Christian faith. But a representative of a group of Muslim scholars who recently launched a new dialogue with the Vatican said the prominence given to the …

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Muslim scholar who participated in recent Vatican talks to improve Catholic-Muslim relations on Tuesday slammed Pope Benedict XVI’s baptism of a prominent convert from Islam as a “provocative” act. In an Easter vigil service Saturday night in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope baptized Egyptian-born Magdi Allam, a TV and newspaper commentator in Italy who has …

Amman, 25 March (AKI) – The Easter baptism of Italian Muslim journalist Magdi Allam which generated headlines around the world has been condemned as “a deliberate and provocative act” by a respected Muslim scholar. Aref Ali Nayed, director of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in the Jordanian capital Amman, said the Vatican had used the baptism on a special …

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Muslim scholar who participated in recent Vatican talks to improve Catholic-Muslim relations criticized Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter baptism of a prominent convert from Islam as a “provocative” act. Magdi Allam, an Egyptian-born TV and newspaper commentator who has denounced Islam as inherently violently, was baptized by the pope in a vigil service Saturday night in …

PARIS/CAIRO — The Vatican’s high-profiled, headline-grabbing baptism of a Muslim-born convert earlier this week has raised eyebrows not only among Muslims but Catholics as well. “I don’t understand why he wasn’t baptized in his hometown by his local bishop,” Christophe Roucou, the French Catholic Church’s top official for relations with Islam, told Reuters. Pope Benedict XVI baptized Egyptian-born Magdi Allam, …

The nascent Catholic-Muslim dialogue sparked by the “Common Word” initiative was never going to be easy, even under the best of circumstances. There is a lot of suspicion, misunderstanding and different agendas to deal with. And then there are the surprises that can come seemingly out of nowhere and blow the effort off course, at least temporarily. One of these …

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict’s baptism of an Italian Muslim over Easter weekend was not a hostile act against Islam, the Vatican’s newspaper wrote on Tuesday after the public conversion prompted criticism in the Muslim world. In a surprise move, the pope baptised Egyptian-born Magdi Allam, a well-known journalist and outspoken critic of radical Islamism, at an Easter Vigil …

Rome, Mar. 25, 2008 (CWNews.com) – The conversion of a prominent Egyptian-born journalist, who was baptized by Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) at the Easter Vigil, has stirred strong reactions across the Islamic world. Magdi Allam, a deputy editor of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, said that his reception into the Catholic Church marked “the most beautiful day …

PARIS (Reuters) – The Easter baptism of an Italian Muslim by Pope Benedict was a provocative act that raises questions about the Vatican’s approach to Islam, a leading participant in Christian-Muslim dialogue said on Monday. Aref Ali Nayed, a key figure in a group of over 200 Muslim scholars launching discussion forums with Christian groups, said the Vatican had turned …

In early March, the media had a field day announcing that Pope Benedict XVI had issued a list of  “new sins.”  As with many reports on religion, the new sins articles were slathered with self-satisfied secular glee.  They were also wrong.  The story started spinning when comments — made to a group of   priests by a Cardinal  on the subject …

Philippine Islamic Council (PIC) president and United Nations Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) commissioner Professor Taha M. Basman, hailed yesterday the creation of a permanent Catholic-Muslim Forum which Pope Benedict XVI had approved early this year during Christendom’s Holy Week. Pope Benedict’s “historic move” – approving the creation of a permanent Catholic-Muslim Forum, which is the first of its …

As plain Joseph Ratzinger he was the Pope’s ruthless doctrinal enforcer, described in hushed tones in the Vatican’s corridors of power as “God’s rottweiler” and “the Panzerkardinal”. As Pope Benedict XVI he has earned the affection of millions of Catholics with a crowd-pleasing style.It is an extraordinary transformation for a German cardinal who was considered a dogmatic and inflexible hardliner …

ROME — The Vatican on Thursday rejected an audiotaped accusation from Osama bin Laden that Pope Benedict XVI was leading a “new Crusade” against Muslims, but Italian security officials were concerned about the threats included in Mr. bin Laden’s new message. “These accusations are absolutely unfounded,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the pope’s chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “There …

Religious leaders plan to meet this year in the US, Britain, and at the Vatican to defuse tensions. Gatherings of top religious leaders and even some heads of state will take place this year in the United States, at the Vatican, and in Britain, aimed at defusing tensions between the West and the Muslim world. The first-of-their-kind dialogues – which …

Matthew linked to this series on National Review’s Uncommon Knowledge (link is to pt 2 of 5) with Bruce Thornton a Professor of Classics at Cal-Fresno. He discusses his new book Decline and Fall Europe’s Slow Motion Suicide. Thornton is interviewed by Peter Robinson (from Hoover) who imo is one of the best interviewers out there. Thornton echoing arguments of …