ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

170 with non-Christians, must never be over- looked. A conciliatory syncretism would ultimately be totalitarianism on the part of those who claim to reconcile without regard to values which transcend them and of which they are not masters. True openness implies remaining firm in one's deepest convictions, with a clear and joyful identity, but open "to understanding those of the other" and "knowing that dia- logue can enrich everyone". We do not need diplomatic openness, which says yes to everything to avoid problems, be- cause it would be a way of deceiving the other and denying him the good that one has received as a gift to be shared gene- rously, evangelization and inter-religious dialogue, far from opposing each other, support and nourish each other". 3. Fi- nally, the quotation you then make of No. 252 omits a second part of the sentence which completes the common elements between Islam and Christianity: "... a sin- gle, merciful God who will judge mankind on the final day" (Lumen Gentium 16). This means that this approach to dialogue with Islam which "in this epoch acquires considerable importance..." is not proper and first and foremost to the Evangelii gaudium of Pope Francis, but comes from further afield, from a document of Vatican II to which Pope Francis cannot but abide. Don Walter PEACE IS POSSIBLE ROTARY - 1/12 - 2014 Dr. GIUSEPPE SAMIR EID RC Milan South-East It is indispensable to ask the Arab world to work on education, on the media, on text- books in schools and even to invite to this line of education and peace, the imams and preachers who have in their hands the formidable instrument of sermons in mosques, where it would be appropriate to proclaim also the verses of the Koran that underline God's will towards religious plurality and the commitment to compete for good in God's mercy.