We come into the world already carrying a burden. Or rather: we come into the world with a patrimony already at our disposal. The relationship with tradition is for each man a decisive factor of his identity, his nature and his development. But it is not an obvious or indifferent relationship for anyone. A judgement is needed, an experience is needed. And it is no different when the tradition enters into the dynamics of religious faith, but rather it can in a certain sense be said that for religious faith the subject of tradition is the most important. In this case too a judgment is needed, an experience is needed: a “comparison” with the tradition in which all the human factors come into play. It seems almost obvious to refer to the role of tradition in Christianity and Islam, but the work that the respective traditions “impose” on the Christian and Muslim believer is not at all obvious. This is therefore the itinerary proposed by the News section: from the junction of modern thought to the conception developed by the two great faiths (which has evident consequences on everything, starting with the normative and constitutional frameworks). 

In the recent incident of the “Lefebrian case” which stirred the waters of the Catholic Church, the theme of tradition has returned to arouse debate and to divide. It is the big question of the post-Council, which is ceaselessly proposed and which sometimes explodes loudly. On numerous occasions, Joseph Ratzinger, first as Cardinal and then as Pope, has intervened on the issue, well aware of its delicate nature and reach, as can be understood from one of his most important speeches on the subject to the Roman Curia in 2005. There are then the sharp brief pages by the theologian Yves Congar and the brilliant writer Gilbert K. Chersterton. The passage from the autobiography of the great erudite Muslim, Taha Hussein, is captivating: a story of development that bears witness to what it really means to have to reckon with one’s own tradition.

Do you remember Sarajevo? For the whole world the capital of Bosnia was for years the most terrible and sorrowful symbol of the fall of the ideals of peace and coexistence which had come after the end of Communism. Then, after the difficult pacification, Sarajevo fell into oblivion: an awful story that was better forgotten. But reality has continued to palpitate, seeking a balance between a past that does not want to pass and a present that needs to become future. Mustafa Cerić lives in Sarajevo, Grand Mufti of Bosnia, and prominent member of the Catholic-Muslim Forum. Oasis met him. 

We heard the terrifying stories of the Christians of Orissa, bewildered by the violence and the systematic nature of a persecution for which there is no rational reason and which miserably contrasts with the image of India. And it became apparent that that image was in reality nothing but a discoloured stereotype. And yet it would be just as false and misleading to think that the Christians have no citizenship, that they are destined for inferiority or martyrdom, as our editorial reminds us. You have to go to Kerala to see the other face of India and to discover how next to religious fundamentalism there also exists ideological fundamentalism, which is just as dangerous.  

Comments, analyses and testimonies from different countries on different subjects. In this issue: identity, traditions and dynamisms of the Church of Jordan; the incredible puzzle of the Afghani tribes; in America they are trying to guess the future; the first part of the extraordinary human adventure of a father of Catholic Islamology; the real starting point of every dialogue, the religious factor.

In the books in this number: the dawn of religions; beyond the anti-tradition prejudice; the three aspects of religious freedom; distinguish to be able to coexist; a Christian in modern Algeria; the beginnings of Muslim theology; a Maghrebi vision of the afterlife; nostalgia for the caliphate; Nicola of Cusa’s dream. And lastly, to conclude the section, a glance at this season’s cinema.