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WASHINGTON (December 30, 2003) -- Agreeing that their dialogue "provides a window of opportunity to develop a better understanding of one another as individuals, as religious peoples, and as companions on the journey that leads to God," the West Coast Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims has issued a thirty-page report: Friends And Not Adversaries: A Catholic-Muslim Spiritual Journey. The report concludes an agreed upon round of four annual meetings that were co-sponsored by Islamic organizations and centers on the west coast and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
The West Coast Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims met each February from 2000 to 2003 at the Center for Spiritual Development in Orange, California. Co-chairing for the Catholic side for the past two years has been Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla, S.J., Yakima, Washington, while Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, Director of the Islamic Society of Orange County and Imam Mustafa Al-Qazwini, Director of the Islamic Education Center of Orange County, shared the position of co-chair for Muslim participants during this time.
The dialogue brought together Catholics and Muslims from the environs of Orange County and Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Seattle. Meetings were designed like spiritual retreats, with time set aside for prayers, attending one another's prayers, reading and interpreting the New Testament and the Qur'ân together, and discussing central themes of spirituality. For each of the last three years, the dialogue group was hosted by an Islamic center in Orange for an evening of prayer, dinner, and a program of speakers.
After their final meeting in February 25-27, 2003, members of the dialogue issued a brief statement with five points of consensus on their final topic: peace, justice and forgiveness. Those points are included in the final report which Bishop Sevilla and Dr. Siddiqi prepared also on the recommendation of the dialogue at its final meeting. The report was written in mid-December with four other members in the dialogue: Dr. Aslam Abdullah, editor of The Minaret, Professor June O'Connor, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, Ms. Sherrel Johnson, Council on American-Islamic Relations, California, and Dr. John Borelli, USCCB Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
Speaking of the dialogue, Bishop Sevilla said: "This dialogue has been a real gift to the west coast, especially at this time in history; we have instructed each other about our spiritual traditions." Dr. Siddiqi has also issued a statement: "Building this relationship has been a great step forward and we would like programs like this to continue. We are thankful for the Catholic leaders who proposed and supported this dialogue."
After an introduction on the importance of Christian-Muslim dialogue, the report gives the background for this particular dialogue and then reviews the topics and proceedings of each of the four meetings. There are numerous references to the Qur'ân and the New Testament and several enumerations following from topics discussed. The report also lists those who participated in the dialogue.
The West Coast Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims is one of three regional dialogues meeting annually and co-sponsored by the USCCB through the Bishops' Subcommittee on Interreligious Dialogue. The text of the report, Friends And Not Adversaries: A Catholic-Muslim Spiritual Journey, will be available among other places on the USCCB website under the Department of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.
For more information contact: Dr. Muzzamil Siddiqi, 714-531-1722; Dr. Aslam Abdullah, 213-384-4570; Ms. Sherrel Johnson, 714-776-1847; Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla, 509-965-7117; Professor June O'Connor, 909-787-3743; Dr. John Borelli, 301-325-5004.