The Pope’s voyage to the Holy Land has proved that “interreligious dialogue has become a priority in Benedict XVI’s pontificate.” This is a matter of fact according to card. Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who accompanied the Holy Father on his pilgrimage to the Middle East. In an interview with the French Catholic newspaper “La Croix”, the cardinal reflected on the highlights of the voyage and on future perspectives in the dialogue between Jews, Muslims and Christians. “Benedict XVI – he said – has clearly and pedagogically demonstrated that this dialogue between the three monotheist religions can be grounded.” “First of all, because, as believers, we proclaim and bear witness to the fact that God exists and that we can know Him. Moreover, by this witness, we show and explain that we are brothers and that we have to respect one another. Finally, we obey God and we are called to find places in which God can reach us, places of peace. In this sense, we are all pilgrims of truth.” According to the president of the Vatican body, the presence of the Pope in the Holy Land “contributed to the improvement of relations” between Hebraism, Christianity and Islam. And he added that the fact of having reunited "in one reflection, the three monotheist religions," represents "a great news," even because the Pope pointed out two areas in which the three religions can co-operate: in the "relation between faith and reason" and in "culture" where religions have the common task of showing "the sense of respect and adoration for the absolute, the truth." As for the consequences of the Pope's voyage on the peace process in the Middle East, card. Tauran declared: "For the Pope, and for the Holy See, peace must be based on justice, with the establishment of two States, and it is essential that the international community commits itself to finding a settlement to the conflict." Then a reflection on the possibility and willingness to establish peace in the region: "we can reflect on this. The Pope said he had perceived signs of good will. I believe that both sides have understood that they cannot be happy without the others, nor can they live with a wall separating them, literally and figuratively speaking".

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