| U.S. News

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminister, England, was interviewed March 27 by Vatican Radio here, during which he discussed the March 23 pre-consistory meeting of the pope and the world’s cardinals, reconciliation with Lefebvrite traditionalists, collegiality in the church, migrant works in London and dialogue with Islam.

He said that the situation of Muslim-Christian dialogue is “very complex,” but the church has to be clear not to allow religion to be used as an excuse for terrorism.

“The cardinals would see that we have to meet Muslim leaders and concentrate on the things we hold together: many moral values, matters of family, even if we disagree on the essentials of our religion,” he said.

Saying that “the only answer to what I would call aggressive Islam is very deep Christianity, deep Catholicism,” Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said dialogue has to be based on “truth in love and honesty with each other.”

He stressed that “we in the West have to impose a kind of reciprocity,” whereby “we are tolerant of having mosques or of people wearing particular clothing; we expect the same for minority Christians in Islamic countries, that there would be tolerance of us having crucifixes, freedom to worship in church.”

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said that there was a “cautious” feeling among the cardinals abut reconciliation with the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

“It’s not just a question of liturgy” and the older version of the Latin Mass, he said, but also about the authority of the pope, the ordination of bishops by the sect and the acceptance of the Second Vatican Council decrees.

Migrants are a growing issue in England, especially to London, the cardinal said. He added that many are skilled, coming “increasingly from India and Philippines and central and eastern Europe, especially those that have recently entered the European Union.”

He noted that he is concerned about many not receiving a just wage for their labors and not having their rights protected by the government. “There has to be a policy by the government in terms of how many of these you let in; there's no doubt the world is a global village now, and people come from all over the world,” he said.

He thought the Catholic community has reacted well to the change in the Catholic Church in London where one can hear “often 20 or 30 languages spoken in some parishes, of all different ethnic communities, worshipping together, happy together, belonging together.”

“So faith communities, and particularly I would say the Catholic Church, are extremely important and that's why the way we look after and have care for these ethnic communities, is very important.”