WFPIST, WCC Discuss Ways for Enhancing Interfaith Dialogue
During the meeting, held at the invitation of WCC Secretary General Ioan Sauca and also attended by President of Ahl-ul-Bayt (AS) University Hojat-ol-Islam Saeed Jazari, ways for boosting interfaith dialogues were discussed.
Sauca welcomed the Iranian clerics to the WCC headquarters in Geneva and noted that the two sides have had cooperation for a long time.
He said since official starting to work together in 1995, the two sides have organized various interfaith dialogue forums in Geneva, Tehran, Qom and other Iranian cities.
“Our effort and goal are to build bridges between different faiths and that is our mission, too,” he added.
“We think of displaying common values and consider it to be the way to realize interaction among faiths and religions,” Sauca went on to say.
Hojat-ol-Islam Ramezani, for his part, underlined the need for peaceful coexistence among followers of different faiths and rejection of a racist look at human beings.
He referred to verses of the Quran and Hadiths from the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and said according to these teachings, there is no priority given to any race or skin color or language and that respecting all human beings is a necessity.
He cited verse 13 of Surah Al-Hujurat “People, We have created you all male and female and have made you nations and tribes so that you would recognize each other. The most honorable among you in the sight of God is the most pious of you. God is All-knowing and All-aware,” and said only piety and Taqwa (God-fearing) is the criterion of one's superiority over another before God.
The cleric also stressed working on common teachings of religions.
He further said that efforts should be made to counter extremism and radicalism.
Hojat-ol-Islam Ramezani hailed a new phase of dialogue among religious leaders and called for efforts to develop it.
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