Vatican urges Muslims, Catholics to promote spirituality
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As Muslims around the world prepare to celebrate the end of their monthlong Ramadan fast, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran encouraged Catholics and Muslims to work together to promote spirituality.
Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said Christians and Muslims are concerned about the challenges of materialism and secularization and the loss of the importance of spiritual and moral values in society.
The message, released Aug. 19 at the Vatican, was issued in 30 different languages. It was addressed to Muslims around the world to mark the end of Ramadan on or around Aug. 30.
Cardinal Tauran deplored that “Christians and Muslims are too often witnesses to the violation of the sacred” and are often mistrusted by others.
“We cannot but denounce all forms of fanaticism and intimidation, the prejudices and polemics,” as well as the fact that believers are, at times, the object of discrimination by people in society, politics and the mass media, he said.
“Christians and Muslims, beyond their differences, recognize the dignity of the human person endowed with both rights and duties,” the cardinal wrote.
That younger generations embrace religious and moral values is a common concern, he wrote.
“It is our duty to help (young people) discover that there is both good and evil, that conscience is a sanctuary to be respected, and that cultivating the spiritual dimension makes us more responsible, more supportive, more available for the common good.”
