Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to get its own leader

Published: 2007-05-29

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, which has shared a president with the Pontifical Council for Culture for more than a year, will get its own leader shortly, the Vatican secretary of state said. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, speaking May 26 at a conference on interreligious dialogue in Vercelli, Italy, said, "the change demonstrates the importance of interreligious dialogue" for the Catholic Church. The Vatican press office confirmed Cardinal Bertone's remarks but said it had no information on when Pope Benedict XVI would name the new president. Since March 2006, French Cardinal Paul Poupard, 76, has led both the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The Vatican said at the time that the joint presidency would be temporary. Still, many people involved in interreligious dialogue saw the move as a downgrading of the council's importance or as a shift in emphasis from focusing on the faith and practice of the Catholic Church's dialogue partners to focusing on their contributions to local culture and on fostering joint cultural projects.

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