1 - Articles, 2 - Background, 6 - know each other, cohabit, converse

007 - ISLAMIC AND CHRISTIAN MIDDLE EAST

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6-1994 – Italian Tourist Press Group

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Congress: M.O. which tourism – Analysis of a geopolitical reality and the role of information

Mediterranean and demographic imbalance

The evolution of the demographic situation on the two shores of the Mediterranean follows two different trends: immediately after the Second World War the population on the northern shore of the Mediterranean basin was about twice that of the southern basin, North Africa and the Middle East; today, after 50 years, the proportion has become 1: 1. Demographic development, accompanied by a widening gap in terms of economic development, exposes the wealthier and older Western population to a “peaceful” invasion by of peoples very distant culturally with different customs, traditions and traditions, raised in countries that do not separate religion from the state system and where freedom of religious choice is not allowed to remain personal. It is expected that the trend of the imbalance between the two geographical areas will tend to assume dramatic characteristics in the near future. The West’s temptation would be to raise a wall to protect it from invasion and to give up thinking of a common universal destiny in the name of peace and justice. The demographic increase in the developing world combined with the rapidity of communications allows peoples, even the most distant from each other, to weave relationships at all levels of human action.

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1 - Articles, 2 - Background, 6 - know each other, cohabit, converse

010 - Christians and Muslims on their way: Future Prospects

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During these years, the importance of dialogue between Christianity and Islam was underlined as a fundamental component of a new religious humanism. Many suggestions were also given to translate this wish into practice, drawing on the centuries-old history of the Christian communities present in the Arab countries.

In these pages I would like to reflect on some fundamental attitudes, within which everyone can orient their commitment.

Common values ​​and differences

The basic element from which to start, in a relationship between Christian and Muslim population of cultural horizons so different, is the effort to get to know one another including the Jewish community even if the emphasis here concerns, mainly, Islam. All believers must become accustomed to looking at other faiths with the attitude of those who want to discover the religious and spiritual values ​​they contain. This behavior will highlight their common values. Without belittling what distinguishes us, we are united in faith in the one God, in listening to the Word revealed through the prophets, in the conviction that the world has had an origin and is destined to end. The common faith in the final judgment and in the reward in the afterlife can be the seed of a new type of relationship between Jews, Christians and Muslims. While respecting the identity of each one, believers of good will can thus find themselves witnessing together faith in the one God.

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1 - Articles, 1 - Christians in the arabic world, 2 - Background, 5 - Political Islam, centers of worship, prescriptions

011 - RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM

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Ed. La Scuola – 12-1996

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  1. Religious Freedom

The concept of religious freedom, unlike that of tolerance, implies equal rights for each citizen. “Any discriminatory treatment motivated by different religious convictions violates human rights. The position of the citizen before the law must not be privileged by the belonging to a specific religious confession “. (7)

The recognition of human rights is a recent acquisition in the Catholic Church. The reliefs expressed in this regard by Pope Pius IX culminated in the document Syllabus Errorum of the last century. But we had to wait for Vatican II for a universal formulation on the subject.

On the Islamic side, as we will see later, religion still predominates over the rights of citizens, even if some weak voice is raised calling for a separation between faith and law. Islamic documents containing declarations of equality and freedom pose serious limitations and discrimination for those who are not Muslims. It should also be kept in mind that the Islamic world is not at all monolithic; indeed, it has within it a great variety of positions: from the fundamentalist minority (Salafeya) to that which demands more freedom and greater acceptance of the modern world. In the middle there is a vast spectrum of “Orthodox” Muslims. Consequently, the application by the courts of the statements contained in the constitutions and international treaties signed by the respective governments is anything but uniform.

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1 - Articles, 1 - Christians in the arabic world, 2 - Background

012 - THE MISSION OF THE EASTERN CHURCH IN THE DIASPORA

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Ed. The School – 12-1996

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  1. Short history

The diaspora of Christians from the East, begun in the first centuries of Christianity, continued until the eighth century. In the early days, it was not an escape, as will happen later, but it was linked to the missionary mandate of the Church. Evangelization spread from Syria to the western shores of the Mediterranean and to the Far East. The main center of missionary propagation was Antioch, to whose community reference was made for the preparation of the religious who were preparing to leave. Even the apostle Paul stayed there for a while. During the Muslim domination the migratory flows of Christians took place within the borders of the empire. In the years of the Ottoman Empire (1516-1918) until the expedition of Napoleon to Egypt in 1798 communications between the Eastern and Western worlds were reduced and emigration outside the territories subjected to the Sublime Porte were negligible. After the Napoleonic occupation in 1801, Mehemet Alì came to power in Egypt in 1805, which proposed to bring the country to modernity, favoring its cultural and economic awakening. The new political climate attracts many Middle Eastern Christians to Egypt, coming from countries that are not very tolerant of minorities. Entire Syro-Lebanese villages are emptied. In the space of a few years, Christians will invite their priests to join them, thus trying to rebuild the community. During another diaspora to the West and South America, the emigrants gave rise to several settlements created based on the country of origin. In the new offices in the West and in the New World, the distinctions between Orthodox and Catholics weaken.

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