The state of dialogue between the Christian and Muslim faiths is at the centre of a meeting of European bishops taking place in Switzerland through Friday, Vatican Radio reports.
The 4th Meeting of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences is being held at the 1,500 year-old Abbey of St Maurice in the canton of Valais, the oldest western monastery still functioning.
Besides relations between Christianity and Islam, some 40 dialogue experts are examining the issue of Muslim radicalisation in Europe at the meeting and how it is being addressed by Muslim communities.
Speakers at the gathering include French political scientist Olivier Roy, one of the foremost European experts on Islam, and a leading Muslim expert in the sociology of religions, Omero Marongiu-Perria.
Parish priests involved in dialogue with imams, aid workers and training and education experts are also giving talks at the meeting based on their practical experience.
The discussions are being led by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux and the Vatican's top interfaith dialogue official, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran.
