ANTELIAS, Lebanon - His Holiness Aram I received a delegation representing the Shi’ite community, headed by Sheikh Shafik Jaradi. The delegation came to invite the Catholicos to speak at an International Conference planned for June 2011. The conference was organized by the Islamic Research Centre. During the visit, the delegation also discussed issues related to Christian-Muslim dialogue. In his response, Catholicos Aram I said that so far Christian-Muslim dialogue has remained superficial and was used primarily for political purposes. He then said, "We need to give a new quality to the dialogue between our two monotheistic religions and identify clear areas for cooperation." At the end of their conversation, they discussed the two incidents where a pastor in the USA had burnt a Qur’an, and some clergy in Afghanistan burnt a Bible. His Holiness Aram said that religions should respect the truth expressed by other faiths.

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