Family a Common Ground for Christians, Muslims

20-09-2008

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Both Muslims and Christians value the family and should unite in defending it, according to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

In its traditional message to Muslims for the end of Ramadan, that Vatican dicastery called on members of both religions to "work together to safeguard the dignity of the family, today and in the future."

The message, released today and signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, president and secretary of the pontifical council, respectively, recalls that "the development of both the human person and of society depends largely on the healthiness of the family."

"Given the high esteem in which both Muslims and Christians hold the family, we have already had many occasions to work together in this field, from the local to the international level," the message affirmed. "The family, that place where love and life, respect for the other and hospitality are encountered and transmitted, is truly the 'fundamental cell of society.'"

"Muslims and Christians must never hesitate, not only to come to the aid of families in difficulty, but also to collaborate with all those who support the stability of the family as an institution and the exercise of parental responsibility, in particular in the field of education," the statement continued. "I need only remind you that the family is the first school in which one learns respect for others, mindful of the identity and the difference of each one. Interreligious dialogue and the exercise of citizenship cannot but benefit from this."

http://www.zenit.org/article-23663?l=english