The Role of Public Relations in Interfaith Dialogue

On September 12th 2006, Pope Benedict XVI gave a speech at the University of Regensburg, Germany in which he quoted from a mediaeval dialogue between Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an Iranian interlocutor on the subject of Christianity and Islam. The quote included a passage, which read:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

This backward stereotype of Islam, which was the result of mediaeval Christian propaganda, has long since been refuted (although Muslim extremists today seem hell bent on reviving it). The Pope was unwise to quote from this obscure exchange to underscore the Christian belief in spreading their faith peacefully. His implication was that Christianity as a religion is more civilized than Islam even though there have been as many violent depredations committed in the name of Christianity down through the ages as there have been in the name of Islam. One cannot blame the Messiah or the Prophet Mohamed for the evils committed by misguided followers in the name of faiths they founded.

The statement elicited the usual backlash from Muslims around the world with the requisite rioting, effigy burning and other manifestations of impotent rage we have become so used to. Within 10 days the Pope issued a statement sincerely regretting offending Muslims without directly apologizing.

On October 13th 2006, exactly one month after the Pontiff’s Regensburg speech, a group of 38 Muslim scholars signed an open letter to the Pope in response to his controversial remarks on Islam.

The letter received no response from the Pontiff and made no public impact.

One year later, the Royal Ahl Al Bayt Foundation, patronized by His Majesty King Abdullah and led by HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, which was responsible for organizing the Open Letter, issued a second message to the Pope, called ‘A Common Word between Us and You’, signed by 138 leading Muslims scholars, comprising a landmark statement of commonality between Christianity and Islam.

The letter begins as follows:

“Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.

“The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity.”

The letter was sent to the Holy See. This time, however, to ensure that the letter would not be ignored, it was determined that a public relations campaign was crucial to its success and it was at this point that I was contacted and became aware of the initiative. The aim of the public relations program was to create public awareness of the letter and force a response from the Pope. The UK public relations firm Bell Pottinger stepped in to the breach and organized a campaign to build media awareness of the initiative. The program was an astonishing success, with worldwide coverage and commentary, not only in religious and intellectual journals but on the wire services, in the major American and European dailies and on television. In response to this campaign, 300 Christian scholars from across the US endorsed ‘A Common Word’ in a full page ad published in the New York Times.

On November 19th, a result of the worldwide awareness of the initiative, Pope Benedict XVI responded with a letter written by the Vatican Secretary of State:

Subsequent to this communication, the Pope invited HRH Prince Ghazi and a representative group from the signatories to an historic meeting, which is scheduled to be held during the first quarter of 2008.

We do have a role to play in bringing religions and cultures together and it is an important one. We need to take what we do more seriously and see that the disciplines we are learning are not just about promoting products or spin control but can promote understanding and reduce tensions that can lead to violence, war and suffering.