No to different roads” “

“Prepare the ground, avoid errors, promote the positive aspects”: according to the Jesuit Father EDMOND FARAHIAN , these are the steps that need to be taken in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Europe, with a view to the affirmation of “an enriched European identity, which must have as its common denominator respect for the freedom of conscience and the dignity of the human person, and especially reciprocal respect” so that “all the inhabitants” of the continent, however different they are, may “feel at home in Europe”. In the last number of “Civiltà Cattolica” (June 2005), the fortnightly review of Italian Jesuits, Father Farahian emphasises the importance of the integration of Muslims in the 25-member European Union where Islam now represents the second religion. Yet such integration “often creates problems, especially in the second and third generation”, points out Father Farahian, “because it is complicated by the grafting of socio-economic problems and aspirations”. There are some 20 million Muslims in Europe (including Russia). NO TO “HERMETIC WORLDS”. “Europeans have difficulties with various aspects of Islamic culture, such as “the question of the headscarf, the so-called violence of fundamentalist Moslem militancy, the demand for separate classes for girls and boys at school, or the refusal of some women to be given medical checks or treatment by male doctors”, explains Father Farahian. “On cases such as these the divisions begin or the relations between the two sides become strained”. That is why it is essential “to tackle these problems with frankness, so that interpersonal relations of friendship between the two groups can be restored as the basis for future religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Europe”. After also citing the “interferences”, i.e. the negative repercussions on the image of Muslims in public opinion, caused by international events such as the massacres linked to Islamic fundamentalism, Father Farahian declares that “every effort must be made to prevent Europeans and “Moslem immigrants taking different roads” because “the formation of small hermetic worlds would be very damaging”. The Jesuit father makes three particular recommendations in this regard. EMBRACING EUROPEAN CULTURE. First, “prepare the ground, that is, avoid ideological discussions with sharp judgements”. “Europeans must not substitute themselves for Muslims and respond in their place – he warns -. In the same way, Muslims must not assert that “in Europeans everything derives from the deviations due to modernity”. What’s important is not simply to dictate norms, but to “create a climate”. According to Father Farahian, “Muslims must assume their own responsibilities and deepen their religion and history so as not to fall into the trap of the “one form of Islam” supported by other Muslims who claim to impose it on everyone. It follows that, “without abandoning anything of their faith, Muslims resident in Europe must “make a fearless effort to open themselves to the modern world, without absolutizing “their own original culture”. They are called to discern what it is in that culture they need to detach themselves from in order to assume European culture and make it their own”. FEDERATION OF MOSQUES. Second, “better reciprocal understanding” is needed to remind “everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims, that there have been periods of fruitful cohabitation between them characterized by great cultural progress”. According to Father Farahian, “the Europeans of the past were capable of violence”, but “the current situation should not be explained as if it depended solely on the legacy of colonialism or the crusades”. We need, on the contrary, to “refine our judgements and avoid forms of extremism”. As for the more properly religious aspects, the Jesuit makes the proposal of “implementing a global structure that may permit the functioning of the various Moslem realities in as transparent a manner as possible”, and that presupposes “the formation in Europe of religious personnel, imams (prayer leaders) and ulema (wise men) as spiritual leaders of the community”. The minimum requisites for such leaders are: “being at least bilingual and the capacity to devote themselves to all the Muslims present in the region”. Father Farahian further suggests the creation in Europe of “a great federation of all mosques, not to control the Moslem religion, but to ensure that it can be freely practised, according to its principles and without outside interferences”. A NEW IDENTITY. The presence of cultural mediators is also important “with the task of explaining the difficulties of Moslem immigrants to the Europeans and, vice versa, of fostering the understanding on the part of immigrants of what is required of them” to facilitate their integration in Western society. In the view of the Jesuit, “a new European identity ought to be affirmed” within a project to which “all the inhabitants of the continent” are called, without any exclusions. This is “an enterprise that will not be realized in one day, and will require time” – he concludes -, and “Islamic-Christian dialogue can contribute” in a significant manner to its success.