The top Vatican official in charge of relations with Islam yesterday welcomed an unprecedented call from 138 Muslim scholars for peace and understanding between their religions.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran told Vatican Radio he found the letter, released on Thursday, "very interesting", in part because it was signed by both Shiite and Sunni Muslims and made numerous references to the Old and New Testaments.
The letter, addressed to Pope Benedict and other prominent Christian leaders, said finding common ground between the faiths had to go beyond polite dialogue because "the very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake".
Tauran, who heads the Vatican's department for inter-religious dialogue, said he welcomed the fact that the letter was "not polemical" and called for a spiritual approach to dialogue. ( Gulf )