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Australian prelate says Muslim groups need
to develop thicker skin
Sydney, 5th March 2007 (CNA) - Sensational and
inaccurate media reports about a document describing the status of
Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue regarding Christian unity are “not helpful
to the task of preserving and strengthening inter-church relations,” said
Cardinal George Pell over the weekend.
The Cardinal-Archbishop of Sydney also
discussed the interaction of Christians and Muslims in the world at a recent
panel discussion he took part in.
The Anglican and Catholic churches have been
talking for 40 years about how to foster friendship and co-operation, he
explained in his March 4 column published in the Sunday Telegraph, adding
that reports in recent weeks that the two churches planned to unite under
the Pope were “much ado about nothing.”
“Reports of ‘secret plans’ to force an issue,
destroy goodwill and create mistrust at a time when both trust and goodwill
are essential among all Christians for the common [cultural] struggle,” he
said.
“A hasty rush to unity would only produce a
lowest-common-denominator form of cohesion, sacrificing the richness of
traditions along the way and weakening Christianity still further,” he said.
The Cardinal noted that a significant number
of Christians around the world continue to be persecuted, enslaved and
killed for their faith.
Forum on Islam
The cardinal picked up on the latter theme
during a recent panel discussion about Muslims and non-Muslims in Australia.
Muslims in Australia are offered the same rights as other citizens, he said,
but he doubts non-Muslim minorities in the Muslim world are afforded the
same equality.
"Christians are being harassed, they're being
persecuted and even sometimes in the Sudan being sold into slavery,” he was
quoted as saying in The Australian. “I would like to know where my Muslim
friends stand on this issue."
The cardinal also claimed that the Muslim
community is overly sensitive to the criticism it receives in democratic
societies and its leaders need to develop more appropriate responses to
criticism.
"In a democratic society, every group is
criticized,” he was quoted as saying. “Prime Minister (John) Howard said
quite rightly last year that if Catholics rioted in Australia every time
they were criticized, there would be regular riots.
"It's not appropriate that Muslims regularly
reply to criticism with insults, denigration and evasions while avoiding the
point of issue,” he continued, “and unfortunately we've seen too much of
this from some Muslim public personalities.”
Cardinal Pell claimed that there is also a
small minority of Muslims in Australia who do not identify with the country,
who are hostile to it and who are “planning violence" against Australia and
other Western countries. He said there is “significant evidence” to support
this claim.
This “doesn't seem to happen in any other
migrant group," he noted.
Cardinal Pell said integration was a "key
tool" for a harmonious and secular democratic society.
"Equal rights, however, carry with them equal
responsibilities. Problems arise when minorities demand special
consideration that places them outside the law as it applies to other
citizens," he reportedly said.
"Flexibility and adaptability are called for
when refugees and immigrants arrive in our country but there is a limit in
(adopting) minority demands beyond which a democratic host society cannot go
without losing its identity," he was quoted as saying.
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