King, Queen meet Christian clergymen

Amman
16 September 2005

His Majesty King Abdullah II reiterated the necessity of cooperation amongst the followers of the three monotheistic religions to spread peace and justice on earth by working together and accepting one other. The King's remarks, who was accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, came within His Majesty's efforts to clarify the true image of Islam and confront attempts to distort its tolerant message during a meeting at the Riverside Church in New York with Christian clergymen, thinkers and public opinion leaders. During the meeting, King Abdullah attributed the efforts of religious scholars during the last years to end misunderstandings amongst religions. His Majesty noted that religion “has sometimes been employed to justify reckless ideologies and evil acts”, considering those who do so as “betraying the very teachings of the religions themselves”. King Abdullah reiterated the necessity to reaffirm the core teachings upon which each of our religions is founded, which are compassion, love and peace and called for the launch of an Islamic-Christian-Jewish dialogue based on mutual respect. For his part, Reverend James Forbes of the Riverside Church hailed His Majesty's continued efforts to achieve peace and progress for all world nations, and considered King Abdullah's efforts to clarify the true image of tolerant and moderate Islam and to present the joint religious noble human values as having acquired respect and appreciation on the international level.