Paul Keenan
"What we have to avoid absolutely is that religions engender fear, attitudes of exclusion or of superiority in people."
This was the message delivered on November 18 by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at an historic meeting in Vienna, Austria.
That day saw the inaugural meeting of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), a global forum for religious leaders, educators and policy makers towards better understanding between peoples and faiths.
Addressing the first gathering of some 450 delegates, Cardinal Tauran called for a universal effort to foster a recognition of what he termed an ìíintelligence of the heartí, which inspires us to respect what God is accomplishing in every human beingî.
"All of us belong to the same human family. It means that we share the same dignity, we are confronted by the same problems, we enjoy the same rights and we are called to accomplish the same duties."
