CHRISTIAN, Jewish, and Muslim representatives (above)
gathered in Vienna on Monday for the opening of a centre, funded by
Saudi Arabia, to promote religious dialogue. Spiritual leaders
included the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I,
and the secretary-general of the Muslim World League, Dr Abdullah
al-Turki.
Also present at the launch of the
centre, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for
Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), were the UN
secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, and the foreign ministers of Saudi
Arabia, Austria, and Spain, the centre's three founding states. The
Vatican is a founding observer.
KAICIID is an independent institution
that seeks to foster "mutual understanding between faiths and
cultures". Speaking at the opening ceremony at the Hofburg Palace,
in Vienna, Mr Ban referred to conflicts in Syria, Gaza, and Mali,
and said that one needed to look "no further than today's headlines
to understand why this mission is so vital". Religious leaders
wielded immense influence; but today, as in the past, "too many
religious leaders have stoked intolerance. . . they have bred
division."
The Chief Rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas
Goldschmidt, said that he wanted to support an initiative that came
"from the very centre of the Islamic world".
The new centre bears the name of the
Saudi King, who has taken a personal interest in promoting not only
gradual reform in Saudi Arabia, but also interfaith dialogue on the
global stage, in an attempt to improve the image of Islam in the
West, and counter Islamic extremism.
The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince
Saud al-Faisal, said that the establishment of KAICIID was part of
his country's "long march" towards cautious reform. Another Saudi
delegate said that the aim was to achieve "moderation and
tolerance".
Saudi Arabia is widely criticised by
human-rights organisations, however, for failing to respect
religious rights in its own territory. Christians, for example, are
not allowed to build churches or worship openly.
The President of the Vatican's Council
for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, said that
the world would want to be sure that the centre operated as a forum
for dialogue on "religious freedom in all its respects, for
everybody, for every community, everywhere. . . The Holy See is
particularly attentive to the fate of Christian communities in
countries where such a freedom is not adequately guaranteed."