The Pope and Dialogue

Will dialogue efforts be affected by the pope's recent remarks that triggered a heated debate on the Prophet Mohammed and Islam? And what is next?

As it is widely known, Pope Benedict XVI quoted Byzantine Emperor Manuel Paleologos II, who lived in the 14th century and voiced some remarks which truly offended Muslims during his speech on Sept. 12 at Regensburg University in Germany. When protests increased, the pope was obliged to apologize and that he did not agree with the quoted statements.

There can be no logical and satisfactory explanation why a person who occupies an important religious position in a world under threat of global terrorism would make such a groundless move. The pope's action was not compatible with the responsibility that he bears in a position like his.

Taking refuge in the remarks of a Byzantium emperor who lived seven centuries ago does not agree with the dignity of the papal position. The pope's statements paved the way for questioning the Vatican's sincerity, which is good for two reasons. First, the slanderous statements of those who equate sincere dialogue efforts to a council decision of the Vatican became void. Now we know that dialogue is not the Vatican's work. Second, the importance of dialogue between religions is better understood. What is meant by dialogue between religions is actually the dialogue between believers of different religions. This is an example a word's original meaning being hijacked by a wrong one. When one says that there is a high school competition, we know that the competition is between students and not buildings. Anyway, dialogue means showing and proving that it is possible to coexist on the basis of goodness and justice.

No dialogue can exist between institutions and states; what exists is cooperation, politics, and even relations based on mutual interest. Today it is one thing and tomorrow it is another. And today, we should not insist on the expression "dialogue between religions." Fethullah Gülen - who has initiated extremely important dialogue efforts - defines this idea well: "meeting at common human values." If we need a label, we can call these efforts "dialogue between cultures."

We cannot disrupt dialogue just because we are annoyed by the pope, because dialogue is required by our beliefs. Again, we can take a few words from the architecture of a humanity project:

"Feelings of dialogue and tolerance have its roots in our religion and are essential elements in the foundations of our culture. Yes, under our rule, mosques, churches and synagogues coexisted and nobody had any problems about his or her belief. Dialogue and tolerant understanding of this movement of volunteers must aim to express our own beliefs and values in accordance with the mode of our age - as every age has its own style and mode of expression. Those who want to communicate themselves are obliged to listen to others, which should not be misunderstood and capitalized on. Today, a process has been launched that aims to communicate Islam's face through dialogue once more and in a manner that suits its beauty, which is today clouded as people are suppressed and immobilized by terror and bombs. This process will continue. Dialogue efforts introduced in the Vatican or other places are not and cannot be connected to our movement. Our dialogue and tolerance movement is exclusive to the Turkish nation and it has its origins in Turkey. If dialogue is to be feared, let others fear it." (Mehmet Gundem, "11 days with Fethullah Gülen). For a better future, we continue to progress with tolerance and dialogue, for universal peace of humanity and with love.