Muslims seek crisis management plan with Vatican

Muslim scholars hope to form a 'crisis management plan' with the Vatican in order to difuse future tension flare ups between the West and Islam. The scholars pointed to the Danish cartoon crisis as an example where joint statements by muslim scholars and the Vatican could have eased tensions.

Reuters

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Muslim scholars due to meet Pope Benedict and Roman Catholic officials this week hope the Vatican will agree to joint crisis management plan to defuse tensions that flare up between Christianity and Islam.

Violent protests in the Islamic world after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad might have been averted if Christians and Muslims had spoken out jointly against such unrest and the provocation behind it, they say.

Notice how the scholars still view the cartoons to blame for the violence. It's not islam's contempt for criticism that leads to deadly riots it's cartoons....

The Common Word manifesto, which invited Christian churches to a new interfaith dialogue based on shared principles of love of God and neighbor, was issued in October 2007 partly in response to Pope Benedict's Regensburg speech a year earlier.

Bloody protests broke out in Muslim countries after Benedict hinted there that he considered Islam a violent and irrational faith. The Common Word group said the incident revealed such mutual ignorance that a new cooperation drive was needed.

In meetings this year with mostly Protestant leaders, Common Word delegates have proposed regular dialogue sessions, student exchanges, suggested reading lists and other ideas to help Christians and Muslims learn more about each other.