Paul KeenanDelegation travelled to Qom in March
A delegation led by three US Catholic bishops travelled to Iran in March to foster reconciliation between those countries, it has been revealed.
According to reports of the four-day trip, which only emerged on May 12, the Supreme Council of the Seminary Teachers of Qom in Iran – which maintains contact with the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue – welcomed Bishop Richard Pates, president of the Commission for Justice and Peace, Bishop Denis Madde, president of the US Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue Commission, and Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for the first in a hoped-for series on discussions on mutual understanding.
Speaking after news of the Iran meeting was released, Bishop Pates said: “We had a productive religious and moral dialogue that we hope will promote understanding between the peoples of Iran and the United States. We are committed to continuing and deepening these discussions in the future in order to contribute to a more just and peaceful world. As Pope Francis has said, “dialogue is the key to discovering truth and avoiding misunderstanding”.
US-Iran relations have for many years been marked by deep mistrust, arising both from the CIA’s acknowledged overthrowing of Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq in 1953, and the Iranian regime’s kidnapping of members of the US Embassy to Tehran in 1979.