Predictions are Benedict will take a hawkish approach to Islam

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Montreal

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to take a "more hawkish" approach to Islam than his predecessor, says Vatican analyst John Allen.

Speaking at a March 2 seminar at McGill University's Newman Centre, the correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter said the pope is more likely to demand reciprocity on religious freedom and the protection of religious minorities within Muslim countries.

Allen explained, however, there have been two schools in the Vatican on how to deal with Islam.

One approach has been dovish, and featured attempts to reach out to Muslims and address the social justice issues at the root of any grievances, he said. That view believes the Muslim world "needed patience."

Pope John Paul II's reaching out to both Jews and Muslims revolutionized the Church's relationships with these faiths, but Allen pointed out the "go easy, be patient" approach has always been the subject of "dissent and resentment."

The big issue is that of reciprocity on religious freedom. Allen said that Saudi Arabia financed the building of the largest mosque in Europe in the shadow of the Vatican, yet Saudi Arabia allows no churches at all. It doesn't even allow Bibles.

The one million Catholics on the Arabian Peninsula risk arrest by the religious police if they worship even privately off the foreigner compounds, he said.

One major signal of Benedict's shift in approach came during a meeting with Muslim leaders in Cologne during World Youth Day in August, Allen said.

In remarks described as "blunt" by Associate Press, the pope denounced violence and urged Muslims to join Christians in halting the spread of "cruel fanaticism."

"The defence of religious freedom . . . is a permanent imperative and respect for minorities is a clear sign of true civilization," the pope said.

Allen said in effect, the pope told the Muslim leaders in Cologne "Any culture not protecting religious minorities is not worthy of being called civilized."

Another signal of the pope's shift is his recent removal in mid-February of the Vatican's chief expert on Islam. Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, chief architect of the dovish approach, has been sent to Cairo as the papal nuncio.

Allen said the last 26 years under John Paul II established a dialogue and built a relationship with Muslims, but Benedict XVI's attitude is now we know each other well enough to "tell the truth to each other.

That means a more aggressive, outspoken approach, Allen said.

One major concern for Rome is the "very real danger Arab Christianity will disappear," he said. There are now more Palestinian Christians in Australia than in Palestine. Christians have been leaving in droves because of economic stagnation, persecution and terrorism.

Not only is the symbolism of seeing the land of Christ emptied of Christians troublesome to the Vatican, Arab Christianity represents one of the best possible bridges to communication with the Muslim world in the Middle East, he said.

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter