Mattson Participates In Vatican Conference
Ingrid Mattson, Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, recently participated in an historic meeting of Catholic and Muslim leaders at the Vatican.
The meeting, held in November, worked to reduce suspicion between the two faiths and enhance cooperation. It ended with a joint declaration calling for an end to violence in the name of religion, respect for both faiths and a commitment to help solve international crises together.
The 15-point final declaration also called for the establishment of an ethical international financial system, equal rights for men and women and the need for each religion to disseminate accurate information about the other.
It called on Catholics and Muslims to renounce “oppression, aggressive violence and terrorism, especially that committed in the name of religion.”
And it said religious minorities should be “entitled to their own places of worship, and their founding figures and symbols they consider sacred should not be subjected to any form of mockery or ridicule.”
Click here for full declaration
The Vatican meeting was organized in response to a Muslim call for dialogue – known as the Common Word – issued in October 2006, a 
month after Pope Benedict XVI delivered a controversial speech in Regensburg, Germany, which was widely perceived to have linked Islam with violence.
Photo to the right: Professor Ingrid Mattson talks with Pope Benedict XVI at the end of the historic Catholic-Muslim conference at the Vatican.
The meeting “exceeded our expectations,” said Mattson, who is president of the Islamic Society of North America.
The religious leaders agreed to meet again in two years in a Muslim country and to consider creating a permanent Catholic-Muslim committee.
In September, Mattson participated in a major U.S.-Muslim initiative. In Washington, D.C., the Leadership Group on U.S. Muslim Engagement issued a major new report on United States relations with the Muslim World.
The report is the culmination of 18 months of work by a group of 34 American leaders, including Mattson. She said of the initiative:
“It is a sign of great hope that the Leadership Group, despite having substantial differences over policies and politics, was able to come together to develop this report. This was made possible by a shared belief that the vital interests of the American people need not, and must not, conflict with core American values affirming the dignity of all people and their right to freedom and self-determination. This is a message that the mainstream majority in the Muslim world will surely welcome, and it will help them in their desire to improve relations between their people and the United States.”
The Leadership Group's Report is the centerpiece of the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project, an initiative of Search for Common Ground and the Consensus Building Institute. It is available at www.usmuslimengagement.org.
