A/61/340 and the Islamic World: working together for constructive policies and partnerships” at Wilton Park, United Kingdom. The conference was jointly organized with the Organization of the Islamic Conference whose Secretary-General was also present. These conferences provided opportunities to raise important issues of religious intolerance and to develop certain aspects of the mandate that are issues of general concern for the society as a whole. 36. On 24 August 2006, the Special Rapporteur participated in the inauguration of the Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo. Consultations with the Holy See 37. For the first time since she was appointed, the Special Rapporteur held consultations with representatives of the Catholic Church. On 15 and 16 June 2006, she travelled to the Vatican and had different meetings at the official level with representatives of the Holy See as well as a number of informal meetings with representatives of organizations and institutions and with other individuals who deal with questions related to the Catholic community. 38. At the Vatican, the Special Rapporteur met with Archbishop Lajolo, Secretary for Relations with States, Mgr. Parolin, Under-Secretary, and other representatives of the Secretariat of State of the Vatican; Cardinal Poupard, in charge of the question of interreligious dialogue; and Cardinal Kasper, in charge of cultural affairs and relations with the Jewish community. She also met with representatives of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Gusto Lacunza-Balda, Director of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies; Duncan MacLaren, SecretaryGeneral of Caritas Internationalis; and representatives of different diplomatic missions accredited to the Holy See. The Special Rapporteur would like to express her gratitude to the Holy See for having facilitated the organization of the meetings and for the fruitful discussions she held with her interlocutors. 39. In holding these consultations, the intent of the Special Rapporteur was to initiate a dialogue with representatives of the Catholic community and to identify issues on which the Catholic Church could increase its cooperation with the mandate. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur noted that the Holy See was closely following a number of issues of concern for the mandate. 40. She considers that some of the main issues of concern to the mandate are related to the coexistence in many parts of the world and globally of different religions or different religious communities. These issues include the propagation of religion, including the sensitive question of proselytism, the relationship between freedom of expression and religion (to which she devotes a section in the present report) and the emergence of new religious groups or communities of belief. 41. The need for interreligious dialogue at all levels is of crucial importance to resolving disputes that can arise as a result of this coexistence. In particular, interreligious dialogue should be aimed primarily at the promotion of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief. Human rights, indeed, constitute principles that are beneficial to all religious communities and are therefore an appropriate basis for discussion as well as for defusing tensions and conflicts based on religion. 42. In the near future, the Special Rapporteur hopes to organize similar consultations with representatives of other major religious communities across the 8 06-52068