Wolf D. Fuhrig

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Pope and Saudi King In Dialogue

On Tuesday, the King of Saudi Arabia visited with the head of the Roman Catholic Church--for the first time ever. While Pope Benedict XVI presides over over 1,1 billion Christians, King Abdullah, “the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” (Mekka and Medinah), ranks as one of the most powerful spokespersons of the world’s 1,1 billion Sunni Muslims.

Both Benedict XVI and Abdullah have been criticized for their strong traditionalism in matters of faith and morals. Both seem to recognize, however, that, in view of the fast growing secularization and moral relativism worldwide, conservatives of all religions need to seek common ground against what they perceive as the hostile tide of liberalism.

After over a thousand years of feuding between crusading and colonizing Christians and crusading and colonizing Muslims, even a symbolic reconciliation between their leaders requires exceedingly guarded and circumspect diplomacy. As they met, Benedict XVI. and  Abdullah smiled, clasped hands, and conferred for 60 minutes in the papal library.

It was the Saudi ruler who initiated the meeting. In his talks he emphasized the need to “eradicate malicious thoughts,” an obious reference to the pontiff’s speech in which he had quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new; and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”  The Pontiff stressed repeatedly that those words were not his own and that he regretted offending anybody; but Muslims around the world angrily denounced the quotation.

Yet, King Abdullah can hardly complain about the Vatican’s and Italy’s tolerance toward the one million Muslims and their several hundred places of worship on Italian soil.  Abdullah needed to travel only two miles from St. Peter’s Basilica to pray at Europe’s largest mosque, much of its $50 million bill paid for by the Saudis. When it was inaugurated in 1995, Cardinal Francesco Colasuonno attended the ceremony and reminded Muslims that “reciprocity is what we hoped for, precisely because we permit the Saudi Arabians to have a place of worship here.”

Yet, if Benedict XVI were to visit Saudi Arabia and its 1.1 million Roman Catholic Christians, most of them Filipinos, he could not pray at a single Christian church because Saudi Arabia’s sharia law prohibits all public display of any religion other than Islam. On my first stay in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, a resident American gave me confidentially the address of an apartment where I found a dozen Christians meeting for Bible study and prayer on Sunday morning.  The 3,500 members of Saudi Arabia’s Mutaween, the “Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” actively prevent the practice or proselytizing of other religions.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, recently reminded Islamic countries that “in a dialogue among believers, it is fundamental to say what is good for one is good for the other.  For example, we must explain to the Muslims that if they can have mosques in Europe, it is normal that churches can be built in their countries.”

King Abdullah seems more willing than his predecessors to open dialogues with non-Muslims.  Shortly after taking office, he talked about his vision for the future of Islam: "Fanaticism and extremism cannot grow on an earth whose soil is embedded in the spirit of tolerance, moderation, and balance. Good governance can eliminate injustice, destitution, and poverty."  These are words rarely before heard from a Saudi ruler.

During his visit to Turkey, Benedict XVI tried to show Muslims that he respects their faith when he followed John Paul II’s example and prayed in Istanbul’s Blue Mosque.  He also reached out to monostheistic Islam in his visit at Hagia Sophia, the patriarchical basilica once forcibly converted into a mosque and now a museum, when in its guest book he wrote: “In our diversity, we find ourselves before the faith in the One God.”