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Vatican City (ICNS): The Pope has reestablished the autonomy of the Pontifical Council for Inter Religious Dialogue. The present chief of the Vatican Archives and Library Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran will be its new head.The restoration of the Council is being seen as Pope Benedict XVI’s “desire to increase dialogue with other religions, most notably Islam.” The council was previously merged with the Pontifical Council for Culture.“But the Pope appears to have decided that this is not conducive to better dialogue,” observers feel.Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran succeeds Cardinal Paul Poupard, who will remain president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.Born in Bordeaux France, Cardinal Tauran, 64, will assume his new post in September.He was ordained a priest in 1969 and called to Rome in 1973, where he attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and the Pontifical Gregorian University.He entered the Vatican's diplomatic service in 1975 and was assigned to the Dominican Republic, where he remained until 1979, when he was transferred to Lebanon.He remained in Lebanon until 1983 when he was called Rome.In 1988, he was designated undersecretary of what is now the Secretariat of State's Section for Relations with States, a post he held until 1990 when he was appointed secretary of the section.He was ordained a bishop in 1991 and elevated to cardinal in 2003. As in the days of Noah...
