"Knowing their faith and knowing the Gospel, the Gospel cannot fear the Koran."

From ZENIT, part 2 of an interview with Father Samir Khalil Samir, S.J., author of 111 Questions on Islam:

What I fear really is the indifference of many Christians to their own faith. You hear a lot of Christians saying that it doesn't matter if you are Christian or Muslim or Buddhist, the main thing is to love each other.

This is partly true, but you have to ask yourself, "How do we love each other better? If I really am a Christian, and living according to the Gospel, I will love better."

I don't fear Muslims. Knowing their faith and knowing the Gospel, the Gospel cannot fear the Koran.

Q: Have you seen an increase in interest among Christians since Pope Benedict's famous Regensburg address to gain knowledge and foster dialogue with Muslims? Is the reverse true as well?

Father Samir: I think the famous address of Pope Benedict at Regensburg was a very important step in the last decade.

The first reaction was very negative by Muslims; many Christians and Catholics said it was a mistake. After a while, when all this noise disappeared slowly, Muslims started to rethink it. Christians also started to ask themselves why the Pope quoted this sentence from the 14th century.

We all started, Christians and Muslims, to reflect on what he really said in this address. There was one sentence that was not wrong but difficult to explain -- because you have to go back to history -- but the address was eight pages.

Many in the West then realized it was very positive, in fact, that the Pope had put his finger on something very important. Faith is disappearing in the West. Reason is emptied from its original Greek spiritual meaning. People think if you can't prove physically something, it doesn't exist. Now people are starting to reflect anew on faith.

In the Muslim world, the same thing happened. One hundred and thirty-eight people, lead by Prince Al-Ghazi of Jordan, undersigned a very positive letter in response to Regensburg -- now 300 people have signed it, explaining that Islam and Christianity have a common double principle: love for God and for neighbor.

Read the entire interview.

• "Dialogue starts with serious, academic, honest information about Christianity and Islam." (Mar 4, 2009)
• TIME magazine profiles Samir Khali Samir, S.J. (March 4, 2009)
• Christians and Muslims, Living Together | Preface to English Edition of 111 Questions on Islam | Samir Khali Samir, S.J. on Islam and the West | Interviews conducted by Giorgio Paolucci and Camille Eid