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“Fear is a bad advisor”. This was said by the archbishop of Tunis, mgr. Maroun Lahham, who, speaking this afternoon in Turin, at the meeting of Ccee for the European delegates of relations with Muslims, spoke of Islam-Christian relations in the Middle East and North Africa. “I see, a bit all over Europe – the archbishop said –, some distress and some fear that could lead to reject Islam”. “Relations between Christians and Muslims – he then added – will never completely lack shadows or misunderstandings. Shadows, yes, but not crisis and absolutely no panic ever. That is why the religious leaders of both sides have a great challenge before them, that of often swimming against the tide”. “On the Christian side – mgr. Lahham went on – the religious leaders must state that the Christian presence in the Arab world is not by chance, it is rather the sign of God’s will. It is therefore a mission entrusted by God to the Christian Arabs, that of living amidst their Muslim Arab brothers and serving, with them, peace and a friendly, fraternal world. On the Muslim side, the religious leaders must clearly state that Muslim Arab societies are not imaginable without Christian Arabs”. To face the challenge of dialogue in Europe, peaceful cohabitation in the Middle East and the democratic process in North Africa, “we need courage and an objective, clear view of the Middle Eastern situation, but above all we need lots of patience and prayer”. “Christianity – the archbishop concluded – is not a monolithic world. And Islam isn’t either. The vast world of Islam-Christian dialogue in the Middle East and North Africa is therefore very diverse. There are different shades of grey. All we have to do is navigating these two situations. But we should also say that this long history of dialogue cannot but be beneficial to both, especially if it leads – as it happened with the famous Arab spring – to religious freedom, to the right to difference and to some separation of powers. What should be avoided is walking the narrow path of feelings of mistrust, distance, or even conflict. Only if we can read clearly the new signs of the time, as if these signs were a message the Lord sent us, will all this make us better appreciate those seeds of truth that God sowed in the heart of every man, in every place and in every time, and give today’s man the testimony that the true faith in God cannot but bring believers closer to each other, in respect and cooperation”. 

© www.agensir.it - 1 giugno 2011