On this busy day, this little bit of news almost excaped my attention. The lead:
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has met with HE Seyyed Muhammad Khatami, former President of Iran, who is visiting London this week.
Williams received Khatami at Lambeth Palace on the morning of November 2 and the two discussed developing relationships between Christian and Muslim Institutions, especially the developing dialogue between the Church of England and Iranian Islamic organizations. The conversation explored a growing perception that peoples’ spiritual needs were more urgent than ever and required a more comprehensive response than modern society and culture seemed able to offer.
Williams was encouraged to learn of Mr Khatami’s work in establishing a center in Geneva to pursue his ‘Dialogue of Civilisations’ initiative. Williams said that the meeting had been a positive one.
“I was heartened by the support Mr. Khatami expressed for the idea that religious leaders in places of tension and conflict should play a vital role in building confidence and trust between communities,” he said. “People of faith have much to contribute to the solving of the problems caused by mistrust and misunderstanding.”
Regular visitors may recall that Bishop John Bryson Chane and Dean Samuel Lloyd of Washington National Cathedral came in for a raft of verbal abuse from the Anglican right when Khatami spoke at the Cathedral in September. I will be curious to see how the Institute on Religion and Democracy and the blogosphere respond to this news.