Co-Chair of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue Calls for Positive Engagement with Different Faith Traditions

WASHINGTON—Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago,Catholic co-chairman of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue, issued thefollowing statement on the report Danger"& Dialogue: American Catholic Public Opinion and Portrayals of Islam,recently published by Georgetown University's Center for Muslim – ChristianUnderstanding.

Full statement follows.

The report "Danger "& Dialogue: American CatholicPublic Opinion and Portrayals of Islam," recently published by the Bridge Initiative, a research project on Islamophobia basedin Georgetown University's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim -Christian Understanding, raises serious questions about how Catholicsview their Muslim brothers and sisters.

The findings demonstrate the urgent need to cultivatepositive dialogue with members of other faith traditions, something that wasstrongly advocated by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council in theirdocument Nostra Aetate.

Experience has shown that when people of different faithtraditions build personal relationships and engage in dialogue to learn aboutone another; they develop the capacity to work together; and they come toappreciate the positive elements in one another's traditions.

Conversely, when there is no attempt to learn more aboutone another, we see an increase in the tendency to be negative about those whoare different from ourselves.

This diminishes all of us, as we face increasingincidents of religious intolerance across the globe.

No one should dismiss the real threats that some Muslimswho embrace a radical ideology, such as the members of the Islamic State,present to people of all faiths.

That is why it is now even more important to promoteongoing encounter, dialogue and education between our two great faithtraditions.

It is incumbent upon Catholics to recognize and raise upthe positive voices from the Muslim world who clearly reject violence bypracticing and teaching an Islam of peace, compassion and mercy. As NostraAetate teaches, with them we should "make common cause of safeguarding andfostering social justice, moral values, peace and freedom."

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Keywords: U.S. Conference of CatholicBishops, USCCB, Archbishop Blase J. Cupich, National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue, Muslim,Islam, Christian, encounter, Nostra Aetate, dialogue, religious intolerance,Islamic State, social justice, peace, freedom

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