Iranian leader, pope hold talks

Iranian leader, pope hold talks

Vatican meeting called hopeful sign of new era

By Diego Ribadeneira, Globe Staff, 03/12/99

ope John Paul II, who has made improving relations among religions a cornerstone of his papacy, held a historic meeting yesterday with the president of Iran, a move observers said could mark a watershed moment in Christian-Muslim relations.

President Mohammad Khatami is the highest-ranking Islamic official to visit the Vatican and the first president of Iran to meet with John Paul. The meeting capped Khatami's three-day visit to Italy, the first by an Iranian leader to the West since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The encounter was a hopeful sign in a period of tense relations between Muslims and Christians in several parts of the world, including Indonesia, the world's most populous Islamic nation, where bloody battles in recent months have caused dozens of deaths.

The private talks took on added significance because Khatami - considered a key voice of democratic reform in the Islamic world - is the head of the Islamic Conference, an alliance of 55 Islamic nations with populations totaling about 1 billion, equal to the number of the world's Roman Catholics.

''The hope is for the victory of monotheism, of ethics, of morals together with peace and reconciliation,'' Khatami told the pontiff during the public part of their encounter. ''This was a truly beautiful day. I am returning to my home full of hope for the future.''

The Vatican, in an official statement, called the 25-minute talk a warm discussion based on ''a spirit of dialogue between Muslims and Christians.''

During his pontificate, John Paul has repeatedly extended a cordial hand to Muslims, and the Vatican has strived to open lines of communication with moderate Islamic leaders. Last year, the pontiff opened a Vatican office to promote Christian-Muslim dialogue.

The pope and his theological advisers are reportedly working on a landmark statement to be delivered by John Paul next year in which he is expected to deliver a sweeping apology for mistakes the Roman Catholic Church has committed over the centuries. That might include the medieval Crusades, when European armies, backed by the church, mounted a series of campaigns to try to wrest control of the Holy Land from Islam.

Khatami, elected president of Iran two years ago, has called for progressive political and social changes, and is seeking to establish improved lines of communication between Islamic nations and the West.

At the Vatican, Khatami, in an unusually conciliatory statement from such a high-ranking and influential Islamic cleric, called for a ''dialogue of civilizations'' and closer ties between Islam and Christianity.

In a particularly warm gesture, a member of Khatami's party took the pope by surprise when he asked - and was granted - permission to kiss John Paul on the cheek.

Vatican officials, however, denied speculation that John Paul and Khatami discussed a possible papal stopover in Iran during a planned pilgrimmage to Asia this year.

While no one felt confident predicting where this new effort at rapprochement might lead, some analysts say the meeting augurs well for the future.

''Khatami is a new kind of educated and intellectual Islamic leader who wants to open a window to the west,'' said Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, an educational organization based in Washington.

''In the holy Koran there is no compulsory religion, so everyone is free to choose their own faith. Khatami is trying to show that sitting down and talking with the pope is not a betrayal of Islam.''

In separate talks with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretary of state, Khatami discussed Iran's human rights record, the Middle East, and the situation of Catholics in Iran, which has improved in recent years.

The meeting with the pope, which triggered protests from Iranian opposition activists, also is a signal from Khatami that he is trying to create a ''kinder, gentler Islam,'' said Denis Sullivan, associate professor of politics at Northeastern University.

Khatami's meeting with the pope, Sullivan added, could set the stage for meetings with European leaders. ''The meeting has important political overtones that go beyond a religious statement,'' he said.

And although the pope generally agrees to meet with any heads of state seeking an audience with him, some Muslim activists hailed what they viewed as the Vatican's more respectful tone toward Islam.

''It really shows the evolution in thinking by the Catholic Church,'' said Salam Al-Marayati, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group with offices in Los Angeles and Washington. ''For many centuries, quite frankly, the church regarded Muslims as barbarians. In this era, and with this pope, there has been a decided push for better understanding, mutual trust, and harmony. The meeting reinforces the need to extend your hand and get to know and respect other people.''

Islam, unlike Catholicism, has no central administrative structure, but Khatami is considered a crucial figure because he is trying to seize the initiative from orthodox clerics in Iran who believe Islam should having nothing to do with the West.

''Khatami is trying to separate the majority of Muslims who tend to be moderate from a minority who have a tendency toward extremist ideology,'' Kabbani said.