Christian and Muslim Leaders Issue Joint Appeal

Call for Greater Solidarity and Religious Education

 

Vatican City, May 15, 2014
 

Participants at a meeting of Christian and Muslim leaders in Amman, Jordan, have called for greater solidarity and better religious education for children and young people.

Just ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to the nation on May 24, the Amman colloquium concluded Wednesday with a joint appeal for the release of the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls.

The two-day meeting, which was said to have a cordial and friendly atmosphere, was held under the joint patronage of Jordanian Prince El Hassan bin Talal, founder and president of the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies, and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

In a concluding statement, participants also propose a "Cultural Decalogue" for all those involved in education to promote the transmission of religious and moral values to the young generations, stressing themes, such as: "Never renounce intellectual curiosity" and "trust reason."

Through future colloquia and other initiatives, participants declared they will continue "fruitful dialogue." (D.C.L.)

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Here below are outcomes of the meeting, including post-conversation points of agreement and the"Cultural Decalogue" for everyone involved in education:

Points of Agreement:

• the fundamental institutions for the education of children and youth are the family and the school
• the importance of proper religious education, in particular for the transmission of religious and moral values
• the necessary consideration of the dignity of the human person, especially in educational institutions
• there is widespread disregard for the international provisions aimed at guaranteeing the effective respect of fundamental human rights, in particular religious freedom
•  the most urgent challenges are the peaceful resolution of current conflicts, the eradication of poverty and the promotion of the spiritual and moral dimension of life 
• the conviction that religion is not the cause of conflicts, but rather inhumanity and ignorance; consequently integral education is essential
•  many recalled that religions, properly understood and practiced, are not causes of division and conflicts but rather a necessary factor for reconciliation and peace

As believers, we hope that human wisdom would always meet the wisdom of God.

Finally, as the future of humanity is in the hands of the young generations, we propose the following "Cultural Decalogue" for everyone involved in education.

Cultural Decalogue:

1) Never renounce intellectual curiosity
2) Have intellectual courage, instead of intellectual cowardice
3) Be humble and not intellectually arrogant
4) Practice intellectual empathy, instead of closed-mindedness
5) Observe intellectual integrity
6) Keep your intellectual autonomy
7) Persevere in the face of surrounding superficiality
8) Trust reason
9) Be fair-minded and not intellectually unfair
10) Consider pluralism as richness, not a threat