Jean-Louis Tauran, Vatican interfaith leader, dies at age 75
In a decade in the post, he built relationships of respect with leaders of many religious groups.
Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, died July 5 at age 75 in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was being treated for Parkinson’s disease, the Vatican wrote.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to head the interfaith relations council in 2007.
The French cardinal entered the role with some initial tensions because of comments Benedict made about Islam, as well as ones Tauran made himself—telling a French newspaper that Muslim belief in the Qur’an as the literal word of God makes theological dialogue between Muslims and Christians “difficult.”
Yet he went on to establish relationships with leaders of many faiths. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, said Tauran “made every effort to boost solidarity among followers of all divine faiths and promote dialogue among religions without any religious bias, nescience, and extremism.”
