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VATICAN-DERVISHES Jun-6-2007 (360 words) xxxi
At Vatican, whirling dervishes mark anniversary of Muslim mystic
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a Vatican palace decorated with frescoes and directly under a ceiling medallion invoking "the peace of Christ," a group of Muslim mystics -- commonly known as whirling dervishes -- danced in prayer.
The June 5 event in the Renaissance Palazzo della Cancelleria, which houses several Vatican tribunals, was sponsored by the Turkish Embassy to the Holy See to mark the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, a 13th-century Muslim mystic, philosopher and poet.
Rumi's version of Sufism, Islamic mysticism, is known for its use of music and dance in prayer rituals aimed at helping the one praying experience unity with God.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the pontifical councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue, said the evening was an example of how "intercultural dialogue often takes on the aspect of interreligious dialogue."
He said the performance by 20 musicians and eight dancers under the watchful eye of a spiritual master demonstrated how "music and dance are universal languages that nourish the spirit."
The disciples of Rumi begin their Sema, the whirling dance, by praising God and "all his prophets," explained Ismail Taspinar, a professor from Turkey. The drumbeats accompanying the dancers' movements invoke all of creation, and the music of the flute represents the breath of God.
Spinning and spinning and spinning some more, "the human dissolves in God," he said.
The dancers hold one palm up to heaven and the other hand with the palm facing down to earth; topped by extra tall cylindrical hats, their heads are tilted to the right.
Muammer Dogan Akdur, Turkey's ambassador to the Vatican, told the church officials, ambassadors, priests and other guests that "we all know that true dialogue cannot occur without understanding well and respecting other cultures and religions."
He said the Turkish embassy wanted to promote the process by sharing an exhibition "inspired by a mystic philosophy of Islam in a sumptuous room of a Vatican palace."
"I think that this context and this exceptional place form a very symbolic and meaningful image of dialogue between cultures," he said.
END
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