Vatican Looks To Mend Religion Ties
By BARRY HATTON Associated Press Writer
September 24, 2000
LISBON, Portugal (AP) _ Vatican officials sought to mend
relations with other religions at an international
ecumenical meeting here Sunday after straining their ties
with claims of the primacy of the Roman Catholic church.
Cardinal Edward Cassidy, who heads the Vatican office for
relations with other religions, said a declaration by the
Vatican earlier this month of the Roman Catholic church's
primacy over other Christian denominations had caused "a
little bit of tension."
The Vatican declaration said followers of other religions
were in a "gravely deficient situation" regarding
salvation.
Some saw the document as contradicting efforts by Pope John
Paul II throughout his papacy to reach out to non-Catholics,
and two rabbis dropped out of a meeting with Christians
planned for next month to protest the Vatican's declaration.
Cassidy said he would seek to reassure the representatives
of other religions at the three-day Lisbon meeting that the
Vatican remained committed to improving relations with
non-Catholics.
"We are not going back on our commitment to inter-religious
dialogue," Cassidy told The Associated Press following a
service at Lisbon's 16th-century Jeronimos church.
"Of course, we are not going to abandon our doctrine ...
but we are still trying to promote dialogue with other
religions," he said.
He said the fact that some Jews are present at the 13th
International Meeting of Peoples and Religions, which is
being attended by 10 religious denominations, was "a sign
that some of the tensions are over."
"Time will pass and we'll get back to what we had
achieved," he said.
The leader of the Jewish community in Portugal, Joshuah
Ruah, said he wanted the meeting to address directly the
Vatican declaration, though none of the scheduled
discussions referred specifically to the dispute.
"Above all, the meeting must clarify and refute the
(Vatican) declaration," Ruah was quoted as saying in
Sunday's edition of daily Diario de Noticias.
The annual meeting is organized by the Community of
Sant'Egidio.