c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The Sept. 11 attacks will forever haunt our national memory. As we look back with grief and remember those lives lost, we look forward with resolve that we will honor the victims and future generations by building societies nourished in the soil of justice and peace.

While sound political strategies and diplomacy are critical in fighting terrorism and promoting universal human rights, interreligious dialogue is just as important if we are to confront the roots of religious violence and the often painful history that Christians, Muslims and Jews share as people of faith.

The kinds of interfaith dialogues that are already taking place in the United States can serve as a model for peacemaking strategies in other parts of the world.

For centuries, armed conflicts have been driven by religious zealotry and intolerance. However, religion plays a redemptive role in history _ think of the abolitionists, Gandhi and civil rights pioneers; all had spiritual and moral foundations. A sound religious education grounded in the historic communities of faith forms the human imagination in the ways of justice, reason, moral virtue and forgiveness.

The 9/11 attacks gave dramatic clarity to the importance of interfaith dialogue, but this work between Catholics, Jews and Muslims began well before Sept. 11. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s started this process for Catholics, and Catholic bishops have sponsored regional Catholic-Muslim talks since 1996.

During these forums, Muslim and Catholic leaders exchange intellectual and spiritual insights from the study of our holy scriptures, seek common ground on matters of faith and public policy, and deepen our bonds as children of one God. We grapple with issues of marriage and family, virtues and values, war and peace. We learn to eschew generalizations, question stubborn assumptions, and move forward humbly with mutual respect.

As members of Abrahamic religions with a shared history and global reach, Muslims, Christians and Jews are called to speak prophetically in a world where materialism, militarism and religious extremism betray the common good. We know that our religions have at times been tragically used to justify violence; we are working to heal that dark legacy.

We have also inherited rich traditions that provide persuasive examples of cooperation that built bridges between civilizations in the past. That legacy promises to help us build today a culture of solidarity.

In 12th century Spain, the Islamic caliphate in Cordoba tolerated Christian and Jewish worship. Jews exchanged ideas in Arabic with Muslim scholars. Latin, Hebrew and Arabic translations of the works of Greek philosophy and science enabled scholars of the three faiths to create a common culture in pursuit of enlightenment.

While the great religions of the world have significant theological differences, the roots of Islam, Judaism and Christianity share core messages of God-centered justice, compassion and peacemaking that offer a moral framework for us in these troubled times.

In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, Americans were drawn to churches, mosques and synagogues in waves of shock and sorrow. People rushed to buy books about Islam. Interfaith vigils lit up the darkness. Fragile threads of cooperation were woven to balance elements of uncertainty and fear, bearing witness to the power of faith to move people to find solutions to problems that political efforts cannot resolve.

Religion alone, of course, cannot resolve the tensions built up over many centuries of struggle. In a complicated world where geopolitical chess matches and realpolitik prevail in decision-making, religious communities retain the force of moral persuasion and spiritual conviction.

As we search for ways through the quagmires of sectarian intransigence, global poverty and political divisiveness, let us not forget that our living religious traditions in dialogue offer wellsprings of wisdom for a better future.

(The Rev. Francis Tiso is the associate director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.)

KRE/PH END TISO

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