Local churches find direct contacts key to Catholic-Muslim relations

Published: 2005-06-22

VENICE, Italy (CNS) -- When it comes to Christian-Muslim relations, Pakistani Bishop Anthony Lobo measures progress in small steps. For example, when President Pervez Musharraf began hosting an annual Christmas dinner as an expression of seasonal goodwill, Pakistan's minority Christian community took notice. "It's a small thing, but it indicates changes on a high level," said Bishop Lobo, who heads the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. "We never dreamed that the president of Islamic Pakistan would be writing 'Christmas turkey' and 'Christmas pudding' on his menu," he said. Bishop Lobo was one of about 35 pastors and church experts who assembled in Venice June 20-21 to discuss the problems of integration faced by Christian minorities in the East and Muslim minorities in the West. The participants were members of the editorial board of Oasis, a biannual journal launched earlier this year by Venice Cardinal Angelo Scola. The journal focuses primarily on the challenges confronting small Christian communities, especially those in the Middle East, while highlighting the church's dialogue efforts with Muslims. Bishop Lobo said that while Pakistan's tiny Christian community has experienced sporadic attacks in recent years, most violence is based on caste differences, not religion. He emphasized a point made by other participants: that the "Muslim world" is far from uniform. In Pakistan, for example, he's had fully veiled female Muslim students come to ask him about Jewish philosopher and theologian Martin Buber, or about the Catholic charismatic renewal movement.

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