against all offences” “

From Holland to Portugal: the bishops of Europe have made a unanimous appeal to work for dialogue, commenting on the violent protests of Muslim communities against the Danish cartoons on Mahomet and Islam. HOLLAND. “I am following with great concern the international events that have taken place and are still continuing following the publication of the cartoons in a Danish newspaper. Apart from peaceful protests, violent acts are being perpetrated and material damage being caused. The violent demonstrations cannot be justified. It’s more than ever important that an end be put to this explosive situation as soon as possible and that calm may return to the hearts and minds of so many people”, declared Cardinal ADRIANUS JOHANNES SIMONIS, archbishop of Utrecht and president of the Dutch Bishops’ Conference. The cardinal pointed out that Dutch Christians, too, have had to come to terms with becoming, they and their faith, an object of ridicule. In his press release, Cardinal Simonis also underlined the need to “establish laws or rules of conduct for particular professions, such as journalists”, but – he added – what’s “more important is respect for others, an understanding of the significance of religious convictions and the responsibility of the individual for society”. SPAIN. Cardinal CARLOS AMIGO VALLEJO, archbishop of Seville, thinks that “offending the feelings of others hardly conduces to community life, and what may be merely a lack of respect or of education can be transformed into conflicts that no one would have wished”. Cardinal Amigo made these statements at Vittoria, in northern Spain, where he took part in the so-called “Meetings in the Cathedral”. According to the cardinal, the offensive caricatures of Mahomet demonstrate that “freedom of expression must not lead also to the right to injure the feelings of a religious group”, even though, he added, “it’s not right to place the blame on a whole country or community for the action of just one paper”. PORTUGAL. An appeal for “mutual respect” and “respect for the identity of each people” has been made by Cardinal JOSÈ POLICARPO, patriarch of Lisbon. “One of the characteristics of each religion – he told the Portuguese Catholic press agency Ecclesia – is the very strong conviction of the justness of its own doctrine and its own view of life”. A possible solution to these problems, in his view, could be found “in a socio-political and socio-economic context capable of dissolving the tensions between the two great blocs of contemporary humanity”. Various Catholic and Christian organizations and associations in Portugal have also reaffirmed their strong rejection of violence. The Portuguese Council of Christian Churches (COPIC) has appealed to religious communities throughout the world to “resolve these conflicts through dialogue and on the basis of their various points of view, in a climate of openness and mutual respect”. ITALY. “Dialogue is essential and we need to work rapidly to ensure that the violent element is eliminated as soon as possible”, declared the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal ANGELO SCOLA intervening on the question of the protests caused by the satirical cartoons. He emphasized that “what’s taking place in the world today is a hybridization, a mixture between people and civilizations of inter-religious and intercultural character”. The problem, in Scola’s view, is “how to critically accompany this process in which we are involved and how to eliminate every violent aspect”. FRANCE. The archbishop of Paris ANDRÉ VINGT-TROIS has attempted a literary analysis. In an interview on Radio Notre-Dame he even cited the case of the writer Rabelais. The age-old history of satire and caricature “has given to this literary genre – points out Vingt-Trois – a kind of statute of liberty acquired with public consent”. “The French – continued the archbishop – are therefore able to read productions of this genre with historical detachment. They are able, in other words, to laugh when they’re funny without taking them literally. But this attitude forms part of a cultural tradition that has been progressively established in our country”. This gives rise to a question and a reflection. “Can we really think we can open the eyes of people with a provocation if these people are not culturally prepared to tolerate it? The presence of the playful dimension in the genres of satire and caricature presupposes that those who read them know how, or are willing, to participate in the game”.