The Prince is on record as saying that "Islam can teach us today a way of understanding and living in the world which Christianity itself is poorer for having lost".

The prospective head of the Church of England was on a visit to the Qatari capital of Doha when a royal aide confirmed he has been taking lessons in Arabic for six months.

This would enable him to read the Qur'an in its original form as well as decipher Arabic script on visits to mosques and museums.

He already speaks good French, some German, and has also had lessons in Welsh.

The news that the Prince is learning Arabic so he can undertake a deeper study of the Qur'an has led Religion News Service contributor Omid Safi to speculate on his fascination with Islam.

Safi is a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina in the United States.

Examining statements Prince Charles has made about Islam, Safi says he approaches that faith "not primarily through the lens of security threats and international crises, but rather as a body of spiritual teachings".

Safi says: "Much of his attractions to Islam actually comes from the insights of the Qur'an that come to identify the natural cosmos as a site where God is revealed and experienced."

Safi goes on to say that the Prince's deep concern for environmental crises is strongly reminiscent of the writings of contemporary Muslim philosophers, such as the Iranian scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

According to Safi, Prince Charles "seems to be reiterating Nasr's view that the solution to the environmental crisis is in recovering a sense of integration, of wholeness, both inside humanity and with nature".

Sources:

Daily Mail

Religion News Service

Image: Religion News Service

"The Pope prays for all the people who speak Arabic. God bless you all," he said in Arabic at the Oct. 10 general audience in St. Peter's Square.

The Catholic News Agency also reported that for the first time, a priest also read an Arabic summary of the Pope's remarks on how the Second Vatican Council was a "moment of grace" in the Church's history.

"In the wake of his recent trip to Lebanon … the Holy Father intends to express his perpetual concern and support for Christians in the Middle East, and to remind everyone of their duty to pray and work for peace in the region," said an October 9 statement from the Vatican Press Office.

CNA reported that Arab Christians welcomed the decision to include Arabic as one of the official languages used at the Pope's weekly general audience.

The Pope's general audience is held every Wednesday. It allows him to meet with pilgrims to Rome and teach them on a particular area of Church teaching or spirituality.

The audience also affords him an opportunity to comment on contemporary issues around the globe.

Reuters reported that the Vatican is concerned about the exodus from the Middle East of Christians, many of whom leave because they fear for their safety. Christians now comprise five percent of the population of the region, down from 20 percent a century ago.

According to some estimates, the current population of 12 million Christians in the Middle East could halve by 2020 if security and birth rates continue to decline.

Vatican officials said that speaking Arabic during the audiences, which are broadcast live on television and radio across the world, would send a comforting word to Christians in a region which is home to many Christian holy places.

They also hope the pope addressing Muslims directly could improve sometimes strained relations with Islam.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency/EWTN
• Reuters
• Image: Reuters