Farsi Catechism translation offers hope of dialogue in Iran

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 at 7:27 pm by CNA Daily News

Farsi Catechism translation offers hope of dialogue in Iran 2015-01-13T19:27:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rome, Italy, Jan 13, 2015 / 12:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The publication of the Farsi language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church may foster further interreligious dialogue in Iran, although this will depend on the commitment of local communities, a Vatican official said.

Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, stressed Jan. 12 that “time will tell if this translation into Farsi of the Catechism of the Catholic Church will help to foster the culture of the encounter, (which is) so close to the Pope’s heart.”

However, he added that “much will depend on the availability and openness of local communities, first of all of Christian Churches,” that will have the opportunity to use this Farsi edition of the Catechism “to present, in a balanced and unequivocal way, the contents of faith to members of other religious traditions, especially to representatives of the diverse Islamic world of Iran.”

The Farsi edition of the Catechism of Catholic Church was presented Jan. 12 at the Gregorian University in Rome. It includes a foreword by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Sponsored by the University of Religions and Denominations of Qom, Iran, the idea behind the translation of Catholic texts into Farsi arose in a context of increased interreligious dialogue carried forward by Shi’ite Islam.

“That Iran and Iranian religious authorities have decided to translate many texts proves that they are opening to the Western world and to Christianity, and especially to Catholic Christianity,” Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J., expert on Islamic studies, told CNA Jan. 13.

This is why “many texts of Catholic tradition, including ‘City of God’ by St. Augustine, have been translated into Farsi,” recounted Fr. Khalil.

Shi’ites make up some 15 percent of Muslims in the world, and the city of Qom is one of the ‘holy centers’ for this Muslim confession.

The shrine of Qom, where the corpse of the eighth shi’ite imam’s wife is buried, is visited by 15 million people per year. More than 100 studies centers are established in Qom, and there are between 50 and 60 thousand scholars of Quran and Islam, out of 1 million inhabitants. Two thousand of these scholars are committed to studying other religious, as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism.

Presenting the new translation, Hojjat ol Eslam va ol Moslemin Sayyed Abolhassan Navvab, rector of the University of Religions and Denominations, explained that “many steps have been made to promote better relations between Islam and Christianity.”

However, he also cautioned that some “dialogues are merely (being) held for their own sake and not for being influential, reducing disbelief.”

“I ask for Catholic cooperation to build fruitful dialogue,” he concluded.

Professor Ahmad Reza Meftah directed the project of translation. The professor explained that the English edition of the Catechism was the “reference edition,” but the translation was then refined and polished by an Italian Catholic who speaks Farsi fluently, and who also compared the translation with the original version in Latin.

According to Roberto Catalano, director of the Interreligious Dialogue department of the Focolari movement, the Farsi edition of the Catechism “will help to bypass some difficulties in fostering interreligious dialogue.”

The biggest of these difficulties is that “Farsi is the official language in Iran, but it cannot be officially used by the Church in Iran. Christians in Iran are allowed to use, according to Iranian law, Armenian, Chaldean, Latin, English and Italian, but not Farsi, in order to avoid the possibility of any proselytism,” Catalano shared with CNA Jan. 10.

As the Farsi edition of Catechism has been published, now the scholars of Qom will be able to study Christianity from an original text.

As Fr. Ayuso put it, “dialogue is possible if we strain to understand the others, and – even before – if we strain to understand ourselves, beyond schemes and stereotypes that push us to engage in conflict.”

He then added that “hermeneutic is a tool that applies human reason to God’s saying, not in order to manipulate or bias it, but in order to shed light to its inner sense.”

Middle East - Africa

Previous Post

January 13, 2015

Availability and obedience: the intentions of Uruguay's new cardinal

Next Post

January 13, 2015 Venezuelan bishops condemn imposition of socialism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into what farming tool?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sickles Hoes Scythes Pruning hooks