The Church & Dialogue
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The Church's understanding of interreligious dialogue has developed significantly in recent years, particularly in reference to its place in the mission of the Church. In the Vatican II documents, interreligious dialogue is given a prominent place. But the Council fell short of calling interfaith dialogue a part of the Church's mission.
It was only in 1984 that a document called Dialogue and Mission, produced by the then named Vatican's Secretariat for Non-Christians, includes interreligious dialogue in the description of mission. It is part in the five principal elements of the single but complex reality of the mission of the Church. The five principal elements are presence, service, dialogue, proclamation and sacramental life of the Church.
Since 1984, two other documents have proclaimed interreligious dialogue an integral part of the Church's mission, Pope John Paul II's 1990 encyclical, The Mission of the Redeemer, and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue's Dialogue and Proclamation.
Fr. Jacques Dupuis, S.J., in his book Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, says the three Vatican documents, with their different emphases and perspectives, constitute a significant advance in the Church's doctrine on mission, dialogue and the proclaiming of the Gospel.
The challenge of reconciling Christian mission and interfaith dialogue presents the practitioner with a number of dilemmas, dilemmas that are both practical and theological. The Second Vatican Council, official Church teachings and John Paul II have affirmed that interfaith dialogue is a function of Christian mission. In Redemptor Hominis, the Holy Father argues that the two practices of Christian mission and interfaith dialogue are not in contradiction:
"Understood as a means and method of mutual knowledge and enrichment, dialogue is not in opposition to the mission to the nations, indeed it has special links with that mission and is one of its expressions."
Fr. James Kroeger, an important writer in field of Christian mission, echoes John Paul when he maintains that all parties involved in interfaith dialogue can be subject to evangelization:
"the Church engages the followers of various faith traditions, because it believes that in this encounter, all dialogue partners will experience a mutual evangelization under the influence of the Holy Spirit."
Proclamation and Dialogue
Other Christian thinkers, including a numberin the Asian context, believe that the practice of Christian mission can combine elements of both proclamation and dialogue—that is to say—the announcement of the good news of Jesus is totally reconcilable with the experience of being spiritually enriched in the context of dialogue with other faiths.
The Second Vatican Council
In the last four decades, Catholics and Protestants have been seriously rethinking their attitudes towards non-Christian religions. And the Second Vatican Council is now seen as a watershed event in this new openness toward Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Aboriginals and others. Indeed, the Church has come to recognize and respect the presence of grace, truth and holiness in other religions. But more than this, the Church realizes it stands to benefit from dialogue with other spiritual traditions. This conviction is best capsulized in the words of John Paul II: "By dialogue, we let God be present in our midst, for as we open ourselves to one another, we open ourselves to God."
The Council produced ground-breaking documents on religious pluralism, interfaith dialogue and religious liberty. The key Council documents relevant to interfaith are:
- The Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity
- The Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions
- The Declaration on Religious Freedom
- The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
Since Vatican II, an explosion of interfaith activity has occurred within the international Catholic community and at all levels of Church, including lay people, teachers, academics, social activists, monks, missioners, priests, bishops and popes. In 1964, Pope Paul VI began building a Catholic infrastructure to nourish his dream of a Church in conversation with other religions and cultures. This organization, known as the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, is active on an international level and has the following goals:
- to promote mutual understanding, respect and collaboration between Catholics and the followers of other religious traditions;
- to encourage the study of world religions;
- to promote the formation of persons dedicated to interfaith dialogue.
Official Church Documents on Interfaith Dialogue
This listing features official Church documents on interfaith dialogue that have been published during and since the era of the Second Vatican Council. Included here are papal encyclicals as well as documents produced by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, by Bishops' Conferences and by Congregations within the Vatican (e.g. the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). To read listing, click here.
John Paul II–Interfaith Giant
John Paul II was one of the most influential interfaith figures of the twentieth century. His commitment to dialogue, his extensive global travel and his acute awareness of our interdependent lives in the global village made him a significant force in the international interfaith movement. This article offers a chronological profile of the interfaith journey of Pope John Paul II from his election to the papacy in 1978 until his death in 2005. To read article, click here.
Inculturation
In past centuries, Christian missioners tended to view other cultures and religions as corrupt and godless. The modern missioner is more likely to see God as already present and active in other religious cultures. Christian mission, therefore, does not consist of a movement toward theological and cultural imperialism. It can, however, involve the experience of inculturation. lnculturation, a fruit of Vatican II, refers to the effort to express the Christian life and mystery in each and every culture. For example, in North America it is now common to integrate the Native sweetgrass ceremony into Catholic Masses that involve the participation of First Nations people.
Popes Lead the Way
This article profiles the courageous interfaith initiatives of the last four popes as the Church journeys through the uncharted territory of interfaith dialogue. What is particularly striking here are the interfaith breakthroughs engineered by Pope John Paul II. Read this article from the Jan-Feb 2007 issue "Popes lead the way"
Four Levels of Interfaith Dialogue
In 1984, the Vatican's Secretariat for Non-Christians issued a document entitled The Attitude of the Church towards the Followers of Other Religions (Reflections and Orientations on Dialogue and Mission). The document described interrreligious dialogue in this way:
"It [dialogue] means not only discussion, but also includes all positive and constructive interreligious relations with individuals and communities of other faiths which are directed at mutual understanding and enrichment."
Dialogue and Mission identifies four levels of inter-religious dialogue:
- the dialogue of life where Christians and others live together in a neighbourly spirit, sharing their joys and sorrows, their problems, and their preoccupations with one another;
- the dialogue of deeds where Christians and others work together in the pursuit of humanitarian, social, economic, or political goals;
- the dialogue of theological exchange where specialists deepen their understanding of each other's spiritual values;
- the dialogue of religious experience where Christians and others share with each other their experiences of searching for the Absolute.
Contact the Interfaith Office:
Paul McKenna | interfaith@scarboromissions.ca | 416-261-7135 ext.296