The author, Sandro Magister, is a preeminent Vatican watcher. A very interesting piece. At the link above, several additional reference links follow the piece.
Because the kind of dialogue he wants is completely different. The pope is asking Islam to make the same journey that the Catholic Church made under pressure from the Enlightenment. Love of God and neighbor must be realized in the full acceptance of religious freedom
ROMA, November 26, 2007 – The letter from the 138 Muslims addressed last month to Benedict XVI and to the heads of the other Christian churches received a spectacular collective reply in a message signed by 300 scholars and published in "The New York Times" on November 18. |