King Abdullah seeks dialogue
by Gerald Butt, Middle East Correspondent.
New light: 15,000 people reportedly attended the first mass held in the new church of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Doha, Qatar, on 15 March. It is the first Roman Catholic church to be built in the mainly Muslim country REUTERS |
| KING ABDULLAH of Saudi Arabia has called for dialogue among Muslims, Christians, and Jews to seek ways of achieving peaceful coexistence. Addressing a conference in the kingdom on relations between the Islamic world and Japan, King Abdullah said he wanted “representatives of the monotheistic religions to meet with their brothers in faith”.
The King said that he would seek the views of Muslim leaders before holding “meetings with our brothers in all religions which I mentioned. The Torah and the Gospel should agree on something that will maintain humanity against those who meddle with religions, ethics, and family systems.”
The King said that family disintegration and a worldwide rise in atheism were things that “all religions must confront and vanquish”.
Despite calls for dialogue, Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the Gulf where Christian worship is banned.
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