Archbishop of Vienna Stresses Importance of Makkah Document in Confronting Hatred

Archbishop of Vienna Stresses Importance of Makkah Document in Confronting Hatred

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Vienna, praised Saudi Arabia’s efforts to dissociate the Islamic religion from the phenomena of terrorism and isolation, stressing the importance of the Makkah Document in confronting hatred and extremist ideas and spreading tolerance and coexistence.

During an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat in Riyadh, Cardinal Schönborn said that he was visiting the Kingdom at the invitation of Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League (MWL).

He noted that he “clearly sensed”, during his meetings in Riyadh, “full and complete interest” in efforts to separate Islam from the two crucibles of terrorism and isolation, “in which [the religion] was wrongly placed.”

“There is a clear interest from the Muslim World League to clarify the true idea of the religion of Islam,” he said.

The Archbishop of Vienna stressed that religion and faith were a personal matter. From this standpoint, he underlined the need to respect the person who holds another faith, and this, in his opinion, is one of the very important observations, “which I will carry in me on my return trip to Austria.”

He noted that the Makkah Document has emphasized the basic principles of the religion of Islam, including tolerance.

The Makkah Charter was endorsed on