Is the Vatican kidding itself?

The Vatican wants dialogue....not exactly what the Islamists want...

Secularization, the relationship between faith and reason, and coexistence with modern ideas of freedom represent a "challenge for Islam as well as for the Church," says a Vatican official.

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Vatican secretary for relations with states, also said that he believes both religions "can help each other, thanks to dialogue."

He made this affirmation Thursday in his opening address at the presentation of the Arabic edition of the book "The Religious Sense," by Monsignor Luigi Giussani, founder of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation.

Archbishop Mamberti referred to Benedict XVI's lecture at the University of Regensburg last September, and to the Pope's Christmas address to the Roman Curia. The archbishop observed that "the Muslim world is going through a crisis due to the different forms in which the gap between faith and reason is expressed."

The Vatican official said that it is all the more timely to reflect on the proposal put forward by the Pope, according to whom "the integration between faith and reason suggests to Islam the path to go forward."

In particular, the two religions can meet to reflect on how they can be "united against violence and in view of a synergy between faith and reason," noted Archbishop Mamberti.