Religions must become source for harmony - Cardinal Tauran, Roman Catholic Church

Your Eminence, do you believe that religion is a universal tool of moral development of society? What is the common character of the Western and Eastern civilizations? What is the basis for dialogue among civilizations in the third millennium?

I think that believers of other religions and religious leaders should enlighten human pilgrimage. Religions must become a source for harmony and mutual respect. I do believe that when you believe in God, when you consider that God created us, thus it means we belong to unique, to the one human family. If you are the member of the family you must go beyond tolerance because we don't tolerate a brother - we love a brother.

Mr. Cardinal, you were appointed by Pope Benedict as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue two years ago. In one of your speeches you said you did not want an impression to grow that there are different classes of religion. What did you mean by that?

I mean that I've been in charge during two years and there we dealt a lot with Islam religion for various reasons. One of them is that we have a lot of Muslim brothers and sisters in Europe where Vatican is situated and somehow there was an impression that we privilege them towards to other religious groups. I have thought for example about great religious traditions in Asia like Buddhism what is seems to be sound and deserve more attention. So that I want to say is that we are going to deal with this matter because for all us the religions are in the same dignity.  I never wanted to give the impression that there are castes of religions because to my opinion all religions are equal and have its unique qualities. And in near future I plan to visit Japan, to Indonesia in order to show that we are also concerned with the others brothers and sisters there.

In different times you have spoken about civil conflicts and humanitarian disasters. For example in regards to the Iraqi conflict, you once emphasized the importance of dialogue and the United Nations, and said that "a unilateral war of aggression would constitute a crime against peace and against the Geneva Conventions". What is the best solution for this situation?

This is something that I have said some years ago when I was in charge of Vatican Diplomas what I meant that I believe that now all political leaders of the world are in possession of a very complete and refined juridical patrimony where are all the necessary means to resolve the conflicts available. We should apply law not using war.

You are a prominent quest of the Congress, you were received by our President Nursultan Nazarbayev in his residence and attended several events in the framework of the Congress agenda. What do you think about Kazakhstan, our interethnic relations and people as a whole?

 I am here just for one day so I cannot say my full opinion about Kazakhstan but what impressed me is a warm hospitality and open friendly people I met. I got an impression that everyone and the President himself are the patriots of the country where cultural traditions and interethnic and interreligious relations are harmoniously go together and what I say to the President - Kazakhstan is not just a country but also a message to the world.

 Thank you for the interview.

Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran is a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Roman Curia.

Born in Bordeaux, Jean-Louis Tauran studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, his Doctorate in Canon Law and Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, and the Catholic Institute in Toulouse. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Marius Maziers and worked as a curate in the Archdiocese of Bordeaux before entering the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1975. He was secretary of the nunciatures to the Dominican Republic and to Lebanon. Tauran became an official of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church in 1983, and then participated in special missions in Haitiand Beirut and Damascus. He was also a member of the Vatican delegation to the meetings of the Conference on European Security and Cooperation, Conference on Disarmament in Stockholm, and Cultural Forum in Budapest and later Vienna. He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 1991 from John Paul II himself, with Archbishops Giovanni Battista Re and Justin Francis Rigali serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. As Secretary, Tauran essentially served as the foreign minister of the Vatican. In regards to the Iraqi conflict, he once emphasized the importance of dialogue and the United Nations, and said that "a unilateral war of aggression would constitute a crime against peace and against the Geneva Conventions".He was created Cardinal Deacon of S. Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine by John Paul in the consistory of October 21, 2003. On the following November 24, he was named Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, overseeing the Vatican Secret Archives and Vatican Library. Pope Benedict appointed Tauran as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on 25 June 2007.