Jordan’s
Prince El Hassan bin Talal to return to Vatican for interfaith talks
(Vatican Radio) Jordan’s Prince El Hassan bin Talal will be
coming to the Vatican in December with a delegation of Muslim leaders to
discuss initiatives in interfaith dialogue. In Part II of a two part interview
with Vatican Radio, he said he thinks “the next meeting should focus on
international citizenship.” That’s something, he noted, which can mean
different things to people in the West and to people in the Middle East.
“After all,” he says, “if you can be a German and a Bavarian and a European,
why can’t you be an Arab and a Baghdadi and an Iraqi?”
If the theme of international citizenship is indeed taken up at
the meeting under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious
Dialogue, participants are likely to reexamine the Middle East’s Catholic
Bishops’ call for equal citizenship for the region’s Christians – an appeal
launched at their 2010 Synod in the Vatican.
Asked if it is
possible for Christians in the region to aspire to equal rights and to full
religious freedom, including one’s right to change his or her religion, the
Prince said, “if we cannot implement these justifiable hopes then we have no
future.”
He reflected, “we all
talk about ‘internet’ – what about the ‘inner-net’ of building a new
understanding of the rights and responsibilities of men and women? There,
I think it’s a question of creating citizenship for a region.” If a
region “so prosperous with trillions of dollars” had the will, he added, “to
recognize the importance of regional stabilization,” it “would encourage
addressing all of these issues.” Alas, he lamented, cyclical wars have
prevented this from happening.
Over two millennia,
Christians in the Middle East have helped contribute to “an ethic of respect
for the centrality of human dignity,” he said. The Abrahamic faith,
“whether Judaism, Christianity or Islam,” he noted, can be seen as “a
continuum.” But, he observed, “What has also been contributed is conflict
and war.”
Preferring not to
speak of “Holy Wars” as such, the Prince reflected “there is nothing holy
about war.” And, “if you study the points of convergence and divergence
between our religions you will find that the periods of peace have been far longer
than the periods of conflict.”
He noted that the
three monotheistic faiths have different beliefs and texts, reflecting freedom
of worship or textual belief – but texts, he noted, “do not enter into
dialogue.”
“What is important is
that each of these religions believes in one way or another in the Golden Rule
or in basically ‘doing unto others as you would expect them to do unto you.’”
“The humanity of this
region has to be taken into consideration,” he said, suggesting that interfaith
relations also hinge on modern day sociopolitical realities. “Our problem
is not with religion in the last century and a half. Our problem is with
oil, and gas and strategic waterways,” and the region’s wealth, he
stressed. “And very little consideration has been given to people.”
Prince El Hassan noted
that previous interfaith meetings have focused on religion and violence, but he
observed that “a lot” more could still be done “in terms of post-stress
disorder which has affected the lives of many, many children – who if not corrected
with a better bedside manner – are going to grow up in a violent environment.”
Over and above
questions of security and immigration, His Royal Highness challenged the
region’s political authorities to work for justice. “National and short-sited
policies” regarding the availability of food and water, he stressed, are also a
concern that must find concrete regional responses. “Water wars, for
example,” he warned, “have already taken place and will take place on a grander
scale if we don’t avoid them.”
Speaking to Vatican
Radio’s Tracey McClure who was on a visit to Amman to see Caritas Jordan’s
outreach programs for more than 1.5 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees, Prince
El Hassan said interfaith dialogue is enriched by learning from the “other.”
“We have taken on
board the whole spectrum of religion and education at different levels and I
personally believe in studying by analogy,” said His Royal Highness. “I
believe that there are good examples of humanitarian relief work for example,
that are being done at the moment by Caritas and by many others which I think
are worth studying and competing with as we compete to do good works in bad
times.”
Recent clashes between
Palestinians and Israelis surrounding the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and last
summer’s Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas are another source of concern
for His Royal Highness. Jordan’s Royal Family is morally responsible for
Al Aqsa, one of Islam’s holiest sites. In response to the Jerusalem tensions,
Amman last week recalled its ambassador from Israel. Jordan is also home to
millions of Palestinians who fled the conflicts of 1948 and 1967.
Prince El Hassan urged that “the conversation between
representatives of the three faiths” regarding the management of holy spaces in
Jerusalem be taken “to another level.”
For the ongoing
violence to end, he proposed the setting-up of a “regional peace congress”
capable of effecting a “stabilization process” as an alternative to the sort of
ad hoc initiatives launched in response to the region’s emerging crises.
The media also plays a
part in the building of a more peaceful region, he observed. “I think media
outlets should be talking not of horror and sensation alone, but helping in
waging peace.”
The region, he said,
“is at a crossroads; either towards pluralism and the discussion of human and
civil rights across the board, or an accepting of the fact that there is going
to be another thirty year war possibly, and what will be left then?”
“I wanted to see this
region,” concluded Prince El Hassan, “playing the gravitational role that it
did in the time of the great messages of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam –
messages that share peace as a common denominator.”
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