Damascus, (SANA) – The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) called on Tuesday for cooperation between Muslims and Christians and continuing dialogue to clarify viewpoints and bolster mutual respect.

In a letter, the PCID congratulated Muslims on occasion of Ramadan, saying that "the reasons for violence among believes are the manipulation of religion for political or other purposes, discrimination based on ethnicity of religion, social division and tension, ignorance, poverty, backward thinking and injustice."

The letter called for supporting civilian and religious authorities in their work to correct wrong situations in pursuit of the general good of society as a while.

The PCID underlined the importance of encouraging mutual forgiveness and reconciliation in order to coexist peacefully, acknowledge common denominators, and respecting differences as the bases for establishing a culture of dialogue, in addition to acknowledging the dignity, rights and respect of all human beings without discrimination based on ethnicity or religion.

H. Sabbagh / Mazen