Vatican City, Aug 29, 2013 / 23:06 pm
The cardinal who heads the Vatican's interreligious dialogue department said that religious differences in the Middle East do not necessitate violence.
"This is the place where the three monotheistic religions meet, and they have the possibility to build up society," Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran told CNA on Aug. 29. "The problem is when religion becomes politics."
Cardinal Tauran was secretary of the Vatican's nunciature to Lebanon from 1979 to 1983 and participated in special missions in Beirut and Damascus in 1986. He is currently president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
He explained that religion itself is not the source of the crisis in the Middle East, where different groups have violently clashed in recent weeks and months.