Top Muslim and Roman Catholic clerics and scholars wrapped up historic talks Thursday stressing in a declaration that the conference's slogan of "love of God and love of neighbour" is also intended as an acceptance of individuals' freedom to practice their religion of choice, reported Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa. Participants of the Catholic-Muslim Forum's first seminar spelt out the results of their three day long-talks in a 15-point document during a final public session, held at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University. A representative of the Muslim side in the talks, the Islamic Society of North America President Ingrid Mattison, said she believed "God's hand" had guided the forum's work as it tried to overcome some of the tensions between Christians and Muslims, reported the dpa. "We feel shame that our faiths are cited as a reason or as a justification" for many violent conflicts around the world, Mattison said. For the Catholic side, the Catholic Institute of Paris' Professor Joseph Maila, recalled how during earlier sessions participants exchanged their life experiences drawn from the communities in which they lived. "Some of our Muslim brethren spoke of the pains they suffered related to Islamophobia, while we talked of our pain for sometimes being branded as Crusaders," Maila said. The Forum resolved to continue contacts and to hold a second seminar in 2010 in a Muslim-majority country yet to be determined.
