More From the Catholic-Muslim Desk

Nobody picked up on this at the weekend, but B16 named a new bunch of consultors to the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims, a sub-group of the Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Two of the appointees are Americans: Sandra Keating, an adjunct professor of Theology at Providence College (and lecturer at Rome's highly-regarded Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas), and Lamin Salleh, a professor at Yale Divinity School. Salleh is a convert to Catholicism from Islam.

A particular buzz has centered on the appointment of the Australian Jesuit Daniel Madigan, a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the founder-head of the Institute for Religion and Cultures. According to a release from the Australian Catholic news wire: "His specialisation is Islam, and the Institute has proved especially useful in facilitating understanding Islam in the years following the September 11 attack."

How intriguing that these appointments were made the day before the fourth anniversary of the attack.

A friend chimes in on Madigan: "On all the earth, I swear by all that is holy -- there is no better human being."

We can always use more of those kind advising the Bosses.

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