Vatican City, Apr 30, 2008 / 14:06 pm
Following today's general audience, Benedict XVI received a group of Iranian Muslims who have been meeting biannually for the last 12 years with the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The dialogue between the Vatican and the Muslim group resulted in an agreement on faith and reason, violence and religion and the method for dialogue.
The Vatican is being represented in the discussions by a delegation led by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, while the president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization of Tehran, Iran is leading their group. Representatives from both groups have been holding meetings in Rome to study the theme of: "Faith and Reason in Christianity and Islam".
During the course of the discussions, which came to a close on Wednesday, the two delegations agreed upon the following points:
1. "Faith and reason are both gifts of God to mankind."
2. "Faith and reason do not contradict each other, but faith might in some cases be above reason, but never against it."