Clash between Islam, West called inevitable unless both sides change

Published: 2006-03-29

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (CNS) -- Jihad and suicide bombers, bin Laden and terrorism. That image of Islam, prevalent in the West, may not be representative of the majority of Muslims in the world. But neither is it a false image, says Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros, an expert on Christian-Muslim relations who currently serves as head of the Melkite Diocese of Newton, Mass., and spiritual leader of all Melkite Catholics in the United States. While visiting the Melkite communities in Miami and Delray Beach in March, he spoke at St. Thomas University on the "clash of civilizations" between Islam and Christianity. Archbishop Bustros was born in Lebanon, studied in Jerusalem and was head of the Lebanese Archdiocese of Baalbeck from 1988 to 2004. He said the current conflict is not about religion but about "the different forms of structuring society and the relationship of religion to the state."

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