3rd Catholic-Muslim Forum Concludes, Dr. Cerić Presents Final Declaration

With the adoption of a joint declaration, the 3rd Catholic-Muslim Forum concluded today in the Vatican, as one of the most important links in Christian-Muslim dialogue, reports the news agency Patria.

The declaration, which emphasizes the necessity of strengthening relations and mutual cooperation between Christians and Muslims for the good of all, was presented to the gathering by Dr. Mustafa Cerić.

The forum participants, renowned world figures and scholars of Catholic and Islamic theology, agreed that their meeting took place at a time of serious tensions and conflicts in the world, which necessitates stronger engagement and mutual cooperation between Christians and Muslims.

In this context, the participants unanimously condemned terrorism, tyranny, violence against innocent people, persecution, desecration of sanctuaries and holy places, as well as the destruction of cultural heritage.

They emphasized that it is utterly unacceptable to use religion to justify such crimes, as well as to equate such crimes with religion.

The participants of the 3rd Catholic-Muslim Forum paid special attention to the issue of youth, highlighting the importance of educating young people in the family, school, university, churches or mosques, as one of the prerequisites for building a complete identity, which certainly includes respect for others and those who are different.

During his stay in Rome, Dr. Mustafa Cerić also met with Pope Francis in the Vatican, with whom he exchanged views on the relationship between Christians and Muslims and the current state of the world, and informed him about the situation in our country.

The Catholic-Muslim Forum, which brings together leading figures of world Muslim and Catholic thought and religion, was initiated as a reaction to the lecture of Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the University of Regensburg in 2006, when, quoting a Byzantine emperor, he compared Islam with violence.

Two years after the Pope's speech in Regensburg, in November 2008, the first Catholic-Muslim Forum was held in the Vatican, marking the beginning of an open and friendly Christian-Muslim dialogue aimed at reducing tensions and bringing together the understandings of East and West. The Muslim delegation on that occasion was led by Dr. Mustafa Cerić, at that time the Grand Mufti of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second forum was held in 2011 in Jordan.