Via Papa Ratzinger Forum, an interview from yesterday’s Corriere della Sera with Cardinal Poupard, the President of the Pontifical Council of Interreligious Dialogue:

There have been commentators who say the Pope intends to eliminate the Council for Inter-Religious Dialog of which you are now also the president…

It is a complete lie. And it is quite serious that this should continue to be affirmed despite all our attempts to correct it. Because we have representatives from far countries coming to us convinced that the Council for Inter-Religious Dialog no longer exists or has been dismantled.

When you were named its president in March, the impression was that the Council for Inter-Religious Dialog was being subordinated to the Council for Culture, of which you were already president.

Even that is false – there is no subordination. One cardinal heads both councils but each council remains intact and autonomous.

Is there any new initiative being planned for the Muslim world?

We are preparing a message to mark the end of Ramadan, and this year, it will be presented at a news conference in the Vatican.

Archbishop Luigi Celata, secretary of the Council for Dialog, will be In Istanbul On October 12 for an important event that is also related to the end of Ramadan. Along with Turkey’s director of religious affairs, he will be speaking to some 400 representatives of the Muslim world. It will be another opportunity to clear the atmosphere.

At the beginning of November, we will have a youth conference in Assisi, in which half the participants will be Christian, and the other half from non-Christian religions, including Islam. The theme will be ‘educating for peace.’ So, as you can see, the Council for Dialog is not being suppressed!