Vatican, May. 4, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI met on May 5 with former Iranian President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, for a discussion of tensions in the Middle East and especially the difficulties facing Christians in the region.
In a brief statement released after the midday meeting, the Vatican said that the Pope had spoken with the Islamic leader about "the importance of serene dialogue between cultures," with the goal of "overcoming the severe tensions that mark our time."
Khatami had originally planned to visit the Vatican in October 2006, but he postponed his visit because of the angry reaction among Islamic leaders to the Pope's lecture at Regensburg in September. Prior to his meeting with the Pontiff today, Khatami told reporters that the tensions between Christians and Muslims remain "very deep."
In speaking with the Iranian leader, the Pope called attention to the severe difficulties that Christians face in the Islamic countries of the Middle East, and specifically in Iran. The Vatican statement did not mention Khatami's response to the Pope on that point.
The Pope and the Iranian ex-president spent some time discussing the prospects for international peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, and the initiatives under discussion at this week's meetings in Sharm al Sheikh, Egypt.
Although he relinquished the Iranian president in August 2005, Khatami remains a highly influential figure in that nation, and the Vatican treated him as major world leader. After his 30-minute meeting with the Holy Father he met separately with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti.