The time is ripe” “” “

Everyone is speaking of Islam – mostly without knowing much about it. There’s an air of preconceived opposition, as in the times of the Cold War. Some recall the “Soviet” nightmare in the period from the 1940s to the 1980s. But there are also some attempts to objectify the question. A few days ago a high level conference “Islam in a pluralist world” was held in Vienna on the initiative of the Austrian government (cf. SIR no.81/2005). The speakers included the Presidents of Iraq (Talabani) and Afghanistan (Karzai). There was little new in their interventions. More interesting were the contributions of the archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Schönborn, and the spiritual head of the Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. The archbishop of Vienna emphasized the “missionary” nature of the two religions – Christianity and Islam. Is it possible for two “missionary” religions – which must by their very nature strive to convince as many people as possible – to live at peace together? The cardinal answered in the affirmative but posed two conditions: 1. A dialogue is needed between Christians and Muslims on the real concept of mission and on the compatibility of missionary commitment and respect for freedom of conscience and pluralism, 2. Bonds of friendship need to be developed between Christians and Muslims to ensure mutual respect and a willingness to cooperate for the common good on a global scale. The archbishop of Vienna did not hesitate to pose also a very delicate question: It should also be possible for a Muslim in a prevalently Islamic country to convert to Christianity. With equal forthrightness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, in his speech to the Vienna conference, asked for equal rights for Christians in countries with an Islamic majority. The patriarch of Constantinople emphasized the fact that the situation of Christians in many “Islamic” countries is far from comfortable. According to the patriarch, a far-reaching improvement of the situation of Christians in these countries is needed, to enable them to “enjoy the same rights and the same liberties as those granted to Muslims in the countries of Christian tradition. Bartholomew I rejected the well-known thesis about the inevitable clash of civilizations. He argued, instead, that the conflicts between Muslims and Christians have political, and not religious, roots. The patriarch ended his address with an eloquent sentence: “The time is ripe to act by respecting God’s will”.