Danish churches to dialogue with Muslims

Church and mosque stand close to each other in the city center of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Photo: Peter Williams/WCC, 1998.

Several member churches of the Danish National Council of Churches (DNCC) recently sent a response to a 13 Oct. 2007 open letter from 138 prominent Muslim scholars and leaders to church leaders around the world. The Danish church response was published 10 Apr. in the Danish newspaper, the Christian Daily. The 16 member churches who were signatories to the response said the Muslim letter "represents an important step in the essential dialogue between adherents of the world's two largest religions."

The Danish churches promised to "take the initiative to meet with Muslim religious leaders in Denmark to continue this exchange." The churches also sent their response to two Danish organizations representing nearly two-thirds of Danish Muslims. In their response the churches said, "...we intend to send a copy of our answer to the Vatican and to the World Council of Churches, of which the National Council of Churches in Denmark is an associate member, as we hope to be part of the ongoing process of discussion and cooperation that is expected to be established between the 138 letter writers, their religious communities and organizations, and the member churches of the World Council of Churches as well as the Catholic Church."

In a recently released document "Learning to Explore Love Together" the WCC proposed to member churches that they conduct further reflection on the Open letter in their own respective contexts - Such corresponding action taken by the Danish churches as well as by other member churches will strengthen and enrich the WCC process.

Read the Danish church response.

To read the "Learning to Explore Love Together" document.

To read the open letter from Muslim scholars and leaders.