US embassy cable - 04VATICAN3581

UNCLAS  VATICAN 003581 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE: LEVIN; DRL/IRF: INBODEN, HEWETT, ET AL. 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, SOCI, KIRF, VT, terrorism 
SUBJECT:  Sant'Egidio Inter-Religious Conference Calls for 
Firmness Against Terror and Dialogue Among Religions 
 
REF:  A) 03 Vatican 4289; B) Vatican 3308 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (U) The Sant'Egidio Community brought together over 
7,000 religious and political leaders September 5-7 in 
Milan to promote inter-religious dialogue and understanding 
as a means to combat terrorism and build peace.  The shadow 
of the Beslan massacre hung over the annual gathering, 
reinforcing the Pope's call to conference participants to 
"withstand the logic of violence, revenge, and hatred, and 
persevere in dialogue."  Recognizing the religious roots of 
terrorism and many international conflicts, religious 
leaders addressed their critical role in overcoming the 
bitterness and misunderstanding that gives rise to terror 
and war.  Conference participants repeatedly and strongly 
condemned violence in the name of religion, concluding that 
those who resort to violence "curse the cause for which 
they fight."  Significantly, recalling September 11, the 
Pope's message to the conference called for "firmness and 
resoluteness" in the face of terror.  The wide-ranging 
meeting also covered Iraq, the Israel-Palestinian Conflict, 
HIV/AIDS, and freedom of religion for Catholics in Russia. 
Ambassador Nicholson and S/GAC Chief Medical Officer Mark 
Dybul both spoke and outlined U.S. efforts to combat 
HIV/AIDS and promote development in the developing world, 
emphasizing U.S. support for the efforts of faith-based 
organizations such as Sant'Egidio.  End Summary. 
 
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Promoting Dialogue in the Face of Terror 
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2.  (U) The Sant'Egidio Community's annual inter-faith 
conference brought together over 7,000 representatives of 
major world religions, governments, and NGOs to explore 
ways that religious leaders can forge inter-religious 
understanding and combat religiously rooted terrorism and 
violence.  Speakers, including the Pope (with a written 
message), EU President Romano Prodi, Italian Foreign 
Minister Franco Frattini, and Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona 
Metzger condemned terrorism and urged both dialogue to 
build understanding and action to address cultural, moral, 
economic, and political roots of terror.  The annual 
conference is part of the Sant'Egidio Community's effort to 
continue the dialogue launched at the Pope's 1986 World Day 
of Prayer for Peace in Assisi and promote a "spirit" of 
inter-religious dialogue that John Paul II has worked hard 
to advance during his pontificate.  The Community, with 
40,000 members from 60 countries, is active worldwide in 
conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS treatment, and inter- 
religious dialogue, and mediated the 1991 Mozambique peace 
accord. 
 
3.  (U) This year's conference, taking place in the days 
after the Beslan tragedy, began with drama when the 
Orthodox Russian Bishop of Beslan, Eparch Feofan Ashurkov, 
who had been in Beslan during the hostage taking, described 
his profound sadness at seeing children's bodies in the 
wreckage.  Asserting that "only devils masquerading as men 
could carry out such deeds," the Eparch said the challenge 
now was to stop this tragedy from breeding more of the 
same.  Society, he said, needed to "save people from 
uncontrolled rage."  Anthony Lobos, the Catholic Bishop of 
Islamabad, caught the mood of the conference when he 
asserted: "we cannot have this conference in a vacuum, 
intellectually separate from the terrorist acts we are here 
to combat." 
 
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Pope Recalls September 11; Calls for Firmness 
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4.  (U) With the conference occurring on the eve of the 
third anniversary of September 11, the Pope in his message 
to participants specifically recalled "that terrible 
September 11th, 2001 when death reached the very heart of 
the United States."  Noting that in the three years since, 
threats and destruction from terrorism had increased, he 
concluded that "the fight against the death-makers 
doubtless requires firmness and resoluteness."  He also 
urged that every effort be made to eradicate the "misery, 
the despair, the emptiness of heart" that has led to this 
drift toward terror.  In an implicit reference to his 
opposition to the war in Iraq, the Pope also observed that 
 
 
"war throws open the doors to the abyss of evil . . . 
[which] is why war should always be considered a defeat." 
The Pope also emphasized that religions have a critical 
role to play in reminding people the world over that peace 
is always possible and showing people the way to "eradicate 
the seeds of bitterness and misunderstanding embedded in 
culture and life."  He rejected the attitude that a clash 
of civilizations or religions is inevitable, and instead 
called for religions to emphasize the "extreme dignity of 
every man and woman." 
 
5.  (U) The Pope's point man for inter-religious dialogue, 
Cardinal Walter Kasper, elaborated the Holy See's thoughts 
on the role of believers in disarming terror.  Kasper 
called for a religious response on three levels:  1) 
Recognition that all religions share texts that prohibit 
violence, terrorism, and suicide.  In this regard, Kasper 
pointed out that according to Koranic principles, suicide 
attackers should not be venerated as martyrs, but condemned 
as criminals; 2) Efforts to make clear to believers of all 
faiths that terrorism is a negation of the dignity of man 
and an offense to God, and that efforts to justify terror 
in the name of God are grave abuses that amount to 
profanation; 3) Support for legitimate actions to defeat 
terrorism. 
 
6.  (U) In explaining this last point, Kasper provided one 
of the most detailed public descriptions to date of Vatican 
thinking on how to combat terrorism.  Because terrorism 
today has become a threat to all humanity, he argued, "we 
cannot defend the dignity of mankind and the peace only 
with pious words; we have to defend them also with 
actions."  Specifically, he maintained that the fight 
against terror required military and policy interventions. 
"Democracies must be prepared -- even if it could mean the 
loss of human life -- to defend liberty with force."  At 
the same time, he cautioned that democracies cannot employ 
the same methods they condemn in terrorists.  This means, 
he explained, that we cannot employ torture, cannot launch 
preventive wars that abolish the rules of just war, and 
cannot use targeted assassinations without a fair process 
that precedes them.  "The barbarism of terrorism," he 
cautioned, "cannot make us turn backward in respect to the 
advances of the civilized world and respond with 
barbarism."  Kasper also called for actions that address 
the conditions that favor the expansion of terror, whether 
social, economic, or political.  Finally, he called on 
religions to use all of their spiritual resources to resist 
terror by clearly and publicly distancing themselves from 
terror, and unmasking the religions faade of terrorists. 
 
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Iraq: U.S. in the Crosshairs 
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7.  (U) The session on Iraq predictably generated sharp 
criticism of the U.S.  Although most panelists agreed that 
Iraqis were glad to be rid of Saddam Hussein and welcomed 
the opportunity to pursue democracy, they also maintained 
that Iraqis are growing more suspicious of the U.S.-led 
coalition and frustrated by the lack of security. 
Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad Shlemon Warduni said the 
continued fighting, lack of essential services, and heavy- 
handed behavior of the coalition forces have fueled the 
impression that U.S. oil interests -- not concern for the 
Iraqi people -- had been behind the invasion.  To applause 
from the largely European audience he said: "take the black 
gold, we don't want it, we want peace, we want a future for 
our children."  Muhammad Bashar Sharif, spokesperson of the 
Sunni Iraqi Council of Ulema, similarly expressed anger at 
the U.S. government for describing Iraq as a "crusade," and 
concluded, "this is a dirty war," which he said was 
"polluted by U.S. unilateralism, exaggeration of a WMD 
threat, and oil interests."  These statements were echoed 
later in a conversation with an Irish Nobel Laureate, who 
told PolOff, "of course we all know the war was about oil." 
 
8.  (U) Shortcomings of the U.S-led occupation of Iraq 
formed a consistent theme, with speakers criticizing the 
lack of security and a perceived denial of freedom of 
speech and press.  Bishop Warduni focused on human rights, 
suggesting that the U.S. was denying Iraqis their "human 
right to safety and security."  Ahmad Al Tayyib, rector of 
Al-Azhar University in Egypt, accused U.S. forces of 
repressing legitimate Iraqi dissent, and "using the tactics 
of terrorists."  When an audience member suggested that 
under Saddam the panelists would not have been allowed to 
 
 
speak at an inter-religious conference in Milan, he was cut 
short by Vatican Cardinal Moussa Daoud, Prefect of the 
Vatican Congregation Eastern Churches.  While refraining 
from mentioning the U.S. by name, UAE presidential advisor 
Ibrahim Ezzedine evoked another round of applause when he 
asserted that: "we all know that the occupation is 
responsible" for the uprising and violence.  Beyond their 
complaints about the U.S., panelists had few suggestions or 
solutions for ending the violence in Iraq. 
 
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HIV/AIDS 
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9.  (U) Against the difficulties in Iraq, the panel on 
HIV/AIDS helped focus attention on the good news of U.S. 
efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.  Ambassador 
Nicholson discussed HIV/AIDS as a moral, political and 
economic challenge, emphasizing that "HIV/AIDS and other 
health threats such as tuberculosis and malaria are 
damaging social cohesion and economic strength, blocking 
the very development goals the countries and concerned 
members of the international community are seeking to 
promote."  The Ambassador continued by placing the 
administration's efforts to fight AIDS in the context of 
broader U.S. humanitarian efforts to prevent hunger, combat 
poverty, and promote development. Dr. Mark Dybul, Chief 
Medical Officer in the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS 
Coordinator, said that by pledging $15 billion over five 
years, "no leader or country has shown such extraordinary 
leadership and action in the global fight against HIV/AIDS 
as President Bush and the American people." 
 
10.  (U) Both the Ambassador and Dybul promoted U.S. 
humanitarian aid partnerships with faith-based 
organizations. As Dybul observed, "the Emergency Plan 
cannot succeed in treatment, prevention and care, and in 
building local capacity without the faith community." This 
linkage tied in with Concepcion Valls' discussion of 
Sant'Egidio's DREAM HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment 
program in Mozambique.  The project, which is indirectly 
receiving some U.S. funding and is seeking more, has 
provided medical care to 5,000 HIV-positive patients, and 
counseling and AIDS tests to 11,000 more.  On September 10 
Sant'Egidio's DREAM program was awarded the USD 1.6 million 
Balzan prize, which will likely fund the full extension of 
the program to Malawi and initial stages of expansion to 
Nigeria and Tanzania. 
 
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Boosting Relations with Orthodox 
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11.  (SBU) One of the central fronts of inter-religions 
dialogues for the Holy See and Sant'Egidio has been 
Catholic relations with the Orthodox world.  With an 
extensive Orthodox and Vatican presence, much of the 
dialogue took place on the margins of the conference. 
Cardinal Kasper, who recently returned from a trip to 
Moscow to return the Kazan icon (ref b), told the 
Ambassador that he had been very pleased with the 
atmosphere of his visit.  He said he was surprised to be 
greeted by a smiling Russian Patriarch Alexei, who embraced 
him as a brother.  Kasper stated that their traditionally 
difficult personal relationship was improving, as was the 
broader Catholic-Orthodox relationship.  He believed that 
"the Orthodox are isolated and need [the Vatican] to reach 
Europe."  Significantly, Kasper told the Ambassador that 
the religious freedom situation for Christians in Russia 
was improving: Catholic priests are getting visas, and in 
August a second Catholic diocese, Suratov, was given full 
legal status by the Russian government. 
 
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A U.N. for Religions in Jerusalem? 
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12.  (U) One of the more intriguing ideas to emerge from 
the conference was a proposal from Israel's Chief Rabbi 
Yona Metzger for the establishment of a "United Nations of 
Religions" -- a permanent assembly of religious leaders 
where representatives of world religions could meet and 
make common agreed statements on international 
developments.  Rabbi Metzger suggested that such an 
institution could help demonstrate the common values shared 
by different faiths -- particularly the sacredness of every 
human life -- and overcome growing perceptions of religious 
 
 
division.  Sant'Egidio's Claudio Betti commented to DCM 
that the proposal was doubly significant as it represented 
one of the first statements he could recall of a senior 
Jewish leader discussing the possibility of Jerusalem 
serving as host to "many religions." 
 
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Signs of Thaw in Israel-Palestinian Dialogue 
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13.  (SBU) One of the Conference sessions that has 
traditionally generated the most heated exchanges has been 
that between Israeli and Palestinian representatives. "What 
New Hope for an Old Conflict," the title of this year's 
session, suggested that the parties are recognizing that 
they need to rebuild the peace process.  Abed Alloun 
represented the Palestinian Authority, while Ehud Yaari, an 
Israeli television commentator, and Abraham Friedman of the 
Herzliya Center represented Israeli points of view. 
Sant'Egidio's Betti said it was the most productive 
exchange he had seen in recent years between the two 
groups. "They didn't fight, and the participants didn't get 
emotional," he noted, adding that both sides recognized 
that the path of the past few years had led nowhere, and 
that the time had come to rethink the way forward. 
 
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Comment 
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14.  (SBU) Sant'Egidio's success in attracting increasing 
numbers of religious and political leaders reflects a 
growing recognition of the potentially critical role that 
religious leaders can play in defusing sentiments of 
religious conflicts that contribute to terrorism and 
international and internal conflicts worldwide.  What was 
new this year, in the face of the Beslan massacre and 
continued attacks and kidnappings in Iraq, was the clear 
recognition on the part of religious leaders such as 
Cardinal Kasper that "pious words" were no longer enough to 
meet this threat, and that religious leaders needed to move 
to the forefront to unmask terrorists who try to hide 
behind a religious faade.  Sant'Egidio is clearly in the 
forefront of groups working to promote dialogue with the 
Muslim world, but they have nevertheless been criticized 
both for attracting only moderates to dialogue and for 
engaging Muslim leaders who have made statements tolerating 
terror.  While acknowledging the continuing difficulty in 
attracting more hard-line Muslims to participate in 
dialogue, Betti defended the outreach to more radical 
elements.  "These are the people we need to reach.  Unless 
someone in the West reaches out to them with a voice of 
sanity, they will continue to voice this craziness," he 
warned.  Just as St. Francis talked to the wolf, he said, 
the West needs to talk to the radical voices. 
 
NICHOLSON 
 
 
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 2004VATICA03581 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED