Catholic bishops attending a synod at the Vatican have said Islam does not respect internationally enshrined women's rights, the ANSA news agency reported, quoting a spokesman. The criticism that Islamic tenets flout the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights came during a meeting of Spanish-speaking bishops at the three-week gathering, the report said.
The Catholic church, in its relations with Muslims, "should keep in mind their conception of marriage and the family, which does not accord women the rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights", said the spokesman, Julian Carron, quoting from a summary of the discussion.
For this reason, the bishops called on the church to exercise "caution" in its efforts at rapprochement with Islam, Carron said.
On Thursday, the synod released an interim report that urged "caution" in relations with Islam while noting "important points in common" between the two faiths: "resistance to secularisation and liberalism, defence of individual human life (and) affirmation of the social importance of religion".
Of the 331 people taking part in the synod on the theme of the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, 25 are women experts or observers.
Many of them have spoken about the role of women in the church and asked that it be underscored in the final document of the synod, which ends on October 25.
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(Source: Age)