Before the general audience this morning, Pope Francis met with participants of the third Catholic-Muslim Forum, a group that formed in the wake of the uproar over Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 lecture in Regensburg.
According to il Sismografo, this 3rd Catholic-Muslim Forum is meeting in Rome through Thursday. Participants are reflecting on the theme “We work together to serve others.”
The Catholic delegation in the forum is led by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, while Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan is leading the Muslim representatives.
This year’s forum commemorates the eighth anniversary of the letter 138 Muslim scholars wrote in 2007 to Catholic leaders after the Regensburg misunderstanding.
According to Fr. Miguel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the forum will discuss three topics: education of youth, the implementation of interreligious dialogue and how to deal with violence.
“In the face of cruelty, we need to find ways to strengthen the dialogue in the service of humanity,” he said.
The first forum in November 2008 focused on the theme “Love of God, Love of Neighbor,” whereas the second in the same month of 2011 in Jordan explored “Reason, Faith and the Human Person.”
