Catholic-Muslim communications appear to be experiencing a positive resurgence, as demonstrated recently by the visit of high-level Vatican representatives to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Eight hundred years after St. Francis of Assisi visited Jerusalem, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, along with Rev. Francesco Patton, custodian of the Holy Land of the Franciscan Order, visited Al-Aqsa Mosque on Oct. 3 and met with the Islamic Waqf (Endowment) Council.

Both sides issued a seven-point statement that deals with the Hashemite (Jordanian royal family) custodianship of holy places in Jerusalem, the importance of preserving the status quo and support for the two-state solution.

Rev. Rifat Bader, a Jordanian priest and head of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Amman, told Al-Monitor that relations between Catholics and Muslims vastly improved following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the important decisions made regarding Catholic relations with others faiths, especially Islam and Judaism.