Dialogue in Truth and Charity from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (2)
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
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Dialogue in Truth and Charity
Pastoral Orientations for Interreligious Dialogue
Chapter One
the church and InterrelIgIous dIalogue
recent Magisterium on interreligious dialogue
10. Dialogue with adherents of various religions re- ceived strong incentive from the Second Vatican ecumenical Council (1962-1965), notably in the documents: Lumen gentium, 1 Gaudium et spes, 2 Ad gentes, 3 Nostra aetate and Dignitatis humanae. 4
11. The Catechism of the Catholic Church 5 summa- rizes the key teachings of the Catholic Church on the levels of relationship between Christians and follow- ers of other religions and the understanding of salva- tion in Christ within and outside the visible bounda- ries of the Church.
12. On 19 May 1964 (the Feast of Pentecost), Pope Paul VI established the Secretariat for non- Christians, renamed in 1988 as the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, to foster dialogue with people of other religions. In august of the same year, in the encyclical Letter Ecclesiam suam Pope Paul VI pointed out that dialogue is a principal “task of our time,” and that the “Church must enter into dialogue with the world in which it lives. It has something to say, a message to give, a communication to make.” 6 In the apostolic exhor- tation, Evangelii nuntiandi, he referred to religions as “the living expression of the soul of vast groups of people,” carrying within them “the echo of thousands of years of searching for God.” 7 Later on, in his several teachings, 8 he explained the nature and importance of dialogue for the Church in the world.
13. Pope John Paul II 9, through his teachings, apos- tolic journeys and meetings with religious leaders, promoted interreligious dialogue, highlighting the common shared values, underlining the role of the Holy Spirit and confirming that dialogue neither takes the place of, nor excludes, evangelization, for it “is a part of the evangelizing mission of the Church.” 10 He took a major initiative to promote world peace and understanding among believers by twice convok- ing “a Day of Prayer for Peace” in assisi (27 Octo- ber 1986 and 24 January 2002).
14. Pope benedict XVI 11 stressed the importance of discussing differences “with calmness and clarity.”
Dialogue should not stop at “identifying a common set of values, but go on to probe their ultimate foun- dation” – truth which “unveils... the essential rela- tionship between the world and God.” 12 He affirmed that it is “a particularly urgent task of religion today to unveil the vast potential of human reason, which is itself God’s gift and which is elevated by revelation and faith. belief in the one God, far from stunting our capacity to understand ourselves and the world, broadens it. Far from setting us against the world, it commits us to it. We are called to help others see the subtle traces and mysterious presence of God in the world which he has marvellously created and con- tinually sustains with his ineffable and all-embracing love.” 13
15. In the Declaration Dominus Iesus, the Congrega- tion for the Doctrine of the Faith affirmed the place of interreligious dialogue in the life of the Church, related as it is to the mission ad gentes, which “today as always retains its full force and necessity.”14 ac- cording to the Declaration, “God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salva- tion is found in the truth. Those who obey the promptings of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. but the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. because she believes in God’s universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary. Inter-religious dialogue, as part of her evangelizing mission, is just one of the actions of the Church in her mission ad gentes.”15 It is the primary duty of the Church, “guided by charity and respect for freedom,” to proclaim to all people “the truth de- finitively revealed by the Lord,” and to announce “the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ and of adher- ence to the Church through baptism and the other sacraments, in order to participate fully in communion with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. 16
The Declaration also affirms that all parties in dialogue are equal, but this equality refers to their “equal personal dignity... not to doctrinal content (of their religions), nor even to the position of Jesus Christ – who is God himself made man – in relation to the founders of the other religions.”17
Foundations of interreligious dialogue
16. Following the Second Vatican Council and the subsequent Magisterial teachings, above indicated, some basic theological foundations have been identi- fied in the Church’s effort to promote interreligious dialogue.
God is the Creator of all
17. God is the creator of all human beings. He made each of us in his “image and likeness” (cf. Genesis 1:26). He is the Father of all. Indeed, “One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth. One also is their final goal, God. His providence, his manifestations of goodness, his saving design extend to all men...” 18 God created everything by the eternal Word, his beloved Son.
In him “all things were created, in heaven and on earth, all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). Therefore, dia- logue cannot exclude anyone. On this basis, the Second Vatican Council concludes: “We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the im- age of God. Man’s relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that Scripture says: ‘He who does not love does not know God’ (1 John 4:8).” 19
Jesus Christ is the universal redeemer
18. The focal point of the universal plan of salvation is Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, fully divine and fully human. In Him, God entered histo- ry, assuming human nature in order to redeem it from within. The mystery of man is clarified only in Him. 20 It is in Him and in Him alone, the one me- diator between God and the human race, that everything has been reconciled. Through the incarnation, the Son of God “is, in a way, united with each man without any exception whatever... even when man is unaware of it.” 21
The Spirit blows where He wills (cf. John 3:8)
19. It is the Holy Spirit himself, at work in the heart of every person, who guides the Church to recognise his presence and action in the world even beyond her visible boundaries. 22 although the Spirit “mani- fests himself in a special way in the Church and in her members”, his presence and activity are uni- versal, limited by neither space nor time and they affect not only individuals but also societies, peoples, cultures and religions as well as history itself. 23
The Spirit helps to recognise the signs and the effects of Christ’s action which are described in various Church documents as “true and good things,” 24 “precious religious and human things,” 25 “seeds of contemplation,” 26 “elements of truth and grace,” 27 “seeds of the Word,” 28 and “rays of truth that illumi- nate all people.” 29
The universal dimension of the Church
20. The Church is the universal sacrament of salva- tion for all peoples 30 because she has been endowed by Christ with the fullness of the goods of salva- tion. 31 Thanks to these gifts, she is able “to examine more deeply her own identity and to bear witness to the fullness of revelation which she has received for the good of all.” 32
21. Those baptised in the Church follow the way of salvation established by Christ, with all means pro
vided in their complete form, for the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation and happiness: the Word of God, faith in Christ, baptism and the other sacra- ments, and membership in the community of the Church.
22. Thus, the Church is necessary for salvation. “Christ, present to us in His body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through bap- tism, as through a door, men enter the Church.” 33
The redemptive grace of Christ pervades the Church, which is thus able to act, in unity with Christ her head, as an effective means for the redemption of all. Whoever is saved by God is without doubt linked to, and in relationship with, the Church, although at times not in an outwardly apparent manner.
23. God “wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:5). “Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience... nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salva- tion to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life.” 34
(to be continued)
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Source: pcinterreligious.org
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1 Cf. 1, 13, 16, 17, and 48.
2 Cf. 22, 42, 45, 57-58, 73, 76, and 92.
3 Cf. 3, 7-11, 13, 15-16, 18, 21-22, 34, 38, and 40-41.
4 Cf. 2-4.
5 Cf. particularly 839-856. also Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 167-173.
6 Pope Paul VI, encyclical Letter Ecclesiam suam, 65.
7 Pope Paul VI, apostolic exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, 53.
8 Cf. Pontifical Council for Interreligious dialogue, Interreligious Dialogue: The Official Teaching from the Second Vatican council to John Paul II (1963-2005), Francesco Gioia (ed.), 2nd edition, updated and corrected, Pauline books and Media 2006. Cf. 83-149 and 186-328. (This document will be henceforth referred to as Interreligious Dialogue: The Official Teaching).
9 Pope John Paul II, encyclical Letter Redemptor hominis (1979), Pope John Paul II, encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio (1990), Pope John Paul II, apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Africa (1995), Pope John Paul II, apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America (1999), Pope John Paul II, apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Asia (1999), Pope John Paul II, apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Oceania (2001), and Pope John Paul II, apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Europa (2003). Cf. also Interreligious Dialogue: The Official Teaching, 331-1409.
10 Pope John Paul II, encyclical Letter Redemptoris mission, 55.
11 Cf. “address to the Delegates of Other Church and ecclesial Communities and of Other religious Traditions” 25 april 2005; “address to representatives of other religions in the United States,” 17 april 2008; “address to the Members of the General assembly of the United nations Organisation,” new York,
18 april 2008; “address to the Participants in the Tenth Plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue”, 7 June 2008; and “Meeting with representatives of the Muslim Community of Cameroon”, 19 March 2009.
12 “address to representatives of other religions in the United States,” 17 april 2008.
13 “address to Muslims in Cameroon”, 19 March 2009.
14 Second Vatican Council, Decree Ad gentes, 7.
15 Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration
Dominus Iesus, 22.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Second Vatican Council, Declaration Nostra aetate, 1.
19 Ibid., 5.
20 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 22
21 Pope John Paul II, encyclical Letter Redemptor hominis, 14.
22 Pope John Paul II, encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio,
28-29.
23 Ibid., cf. 28. Cf. also Pope John Paul II, apostolic exhortation
Ecclesia in Asia, 15.
24 Second Vatican Council, Decree Optatam totius, 16.
25 Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 92.
26 Second Vatican Council, Decree Ad gentes, 18.
27 Ibid., 9.
28 Ibid., 11 and 15.
29 Second Vatican Council, Declaration Nostra aetate, 2. Cf. Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Dialogue and mission, 26.
30 Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 48.
31 Cf. Pope John Paul II, encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio 18 and 55.
32 Ibid., 56. Cf. also Pope John Paul II, encyclical Letter Fides et ratio 72; Pope John Paul II, apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, 29.
33 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 14.
34 Ibid., 16.
