The Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS) has hosted Abbot Notker Wolf OSB, the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict, which is the order that had been established by St. Benedict in the 6th century. This order is still in the prime of its youth as its followers spread in various parts of the world. Within the numerous activities he undertook during his visit to Jordan, Abbot Notker Wolf delivered a lecture at the Arab Thought Forum with an outstanding title that reads, “From Dialogue to Friendship among the Followers of Religions”.
There are actually at present global intellectual and cultural trends which call for building “friendships” rather than holding debates or dialogues, where some of them could be futile doctrinal ones that waste time and fail to produce any result. There are several clues that serve as titles to our conferences and conversations. It is regrettable that they are sometimes shallow as they lose their significance through routine and boring repetitions.
The first clue is patience. Shifting from one stage to another requires calm and patience, for the other party is not requested to rapidly comply with your views. Abbot Notker also talked about “tolerance” and said that this word has become a cliché which means that “I allow you to live because I am a good person.” Yet, he called for shifting it to “genuine” tolerance which requires respect for others, and respect for what they believe in.
The German guest also talked about the clue of “listening” which transcends listening and gets to the “carisma’’ of listening in one’s entirety. This implies getting acquainted with the others’ personalities and methods of thinking in a way that respects their talents, charismas, thinking, worship, life and dignity.
The lecturer relates a number of personal experiences particularly in the Far East. He says: “The Almighty God created plurality so that we can learn to respect the idea of having different colors rather than concentrate on one color representing one doctrine and thinking.” He adds that “we need not to dominate others but rather we need humility; we need not teach others but rather to live with them in love and respect. Can we have a family which incorporates plurality of cultures and ideas? May the Almighty, the Merciful Lord help us attain this goal. We must not lose hope; else hope dies the last.”
In March 1996, seven Benedictine brothers from the Abbey of Tiberine, near Médéa, in Algeria, were kidnapped and later declared dead. These crimes have so far constituted a milestone in its ambiguity as well as those who perpetrated it. Yet, it greatly decreased the Christian presence in Algeria despite the fact that there are many historic parishes and churches there.
Twenty years later, as this anniversary coincides with Easter celebrations, the abbot primate of the Benedictine Order declared from our beloved capital, Amman, that despite the failure so far to identify the real killers, his Congregation does forgive them. He added that the abbot superior at the time, who was killed with the other brothers, had left a will that predicted his death and contained forgiveness to his killers in advance in case he had not had the chance to forgive them face to face.
From Amman… here are lessons of genuine tolerance and of forgiveness…
