INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE IN DIALOGUE AND PROCLAMATION (original) (raw)
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The Church and the Voice of the Other: The Growth of the Faith Community and Dialogue in the Church
2005
Since the Second Vatican Council ended over forty years ago, the Catholic Church has been struggling to find a firm ground in a world of ever-advancing technological change and increasing globalization. Prior to the convening of the Council, the church virtually isolated itself from the rest of the world because it considered itself as a societa prefecta. Dialogue as a communicative act of openness to the other with willingness to change did not exist in the Church because of its understanding of communication as uni-directional-from the hierarchy to the rest of the people. This study examined the church's communicative practices prior to the convening of the Second Vatican Council and after the Council, focusing particularly on the church's understanding of "dialogue." By developing the paradigm of Praxis Religious Dialogue, this study, through the dialogical philosophy of Martin Buber, the incarnational ethics of Emmanuel Levinas, and.Bernard Lonergan's theologico-anthropological process of cognition, offers an approach to a new form of dialogue for the church. This new form of dialogue is embedded in the process of aggiornamento of which the Council emphasized to the church in its deliberations. Through the analysis of the narrative of Revelation, this study encourages the church to be more open to "praxis dialogue" in which priests and laity are considered as partners in dialogue rather than recipients of religious beliefs and instructions. In this Dei (the People of God), "a people to whom God communicates Himself in love" 5 in order to highlight the creative role of the laity. The emphasis on the notion of the People of God defines a people whose sense of their Christian narrative is driven by their communal adherence to the revelatory event that serves as a pilgrimage story of the new Adam. 6 Further, the Council pronounced, in no uncertain terms, the significance of Episcopal collegiality that points the Church to the notion of collective responsibility of all bishops as shepherds of the People of God and to serve as a part of the whole believe in the apostolic college, each sharing in the responsibilies of the whole Church and not as mere chamberlains of the See of Rome. The promulgation of this doctrine also implied that the bishops now should dialogue with the Pope, with other Christian denominations, and other faith traditions in their respective dioceses. 7 Another important document, the Decree on Ecumenism, was formulated by the Council and was driven by the prospect that theology would lose its polemical content as an apologia ready to be used for refutation of other doctrines. Rather, theology in the new conciliar understanding would be concerned with the ecumenical environment in order to study the tradition(s), history, religious culture, spirituality, liturgical worship and life, and above all, the psychological tenets (no.9) of other religions in order to present a theology that removes obstacles to dialogue. 8 In all this, the preparatory commission took note of the centrality of the Christian mysteries by pointing to the inherent elements of humility, respect, devotion, and charity as constitutive of the truth so that ecumenism would demonstrate "a deeper realization and a clearer expression of the unfathomable riches of Christ" (no. 11). Two other important documents, Revelation (Dei Verbum) and The Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), were promulgated on November 18 and December 7, 1965 respectively with other decretal documents. It should be mentioned that other documents that are ENDNOTES 1 See "Opening Address to the Council Fathers by John XXIII." In The Documents of Vatican II. Walter M. Abbott, ed. (Chicago, IL: Association Press & Follett Publishing Co., 1966), p. 710-719.
COMMUNICATION THEOLOGY AND THE TURN TOWARDS DIALOGUE IN THE CHURCH
Emmaus productions, 2019
Fr. Charles Ndhlovu, PhD, studied and graduated with a Doctorate in Social Communication specializing in Communication Theology at the Pontifical University of Salesianum in Rome-Italy. Some of his publications can be found on his website: charlesndhlovu.webpress.com. In this paper, he explores the theological concept of dialogic turn as can be viewed from the perspective of Communication Theology. Dialogic turn in theology as used in this paper basically refers to the shift that took place in the Church and in theology in general from emphasizing on anathemisation to a renewed post conciliar commitment towards more dialogue. This movement became prevalent in theology during and after the Vatican Council II, when there was a general shift towards dialogue and consensus building within the Church itself, dialogue with other Christian Churches, dialogue with the non-Christian Churches, dialogue with the non-religious groups and dialogue with the world in general. This spirit is encapsulated and made manifest in several Papal statements, Encyclicals and Exhortations and many other theological writings which emphasize themes of inculturation, ecumenism, and the Church in the modern world, to mention just a few. In this paper, we have looked at dialogue from the perspective of Communication Theology. In Communication Theology, we study theology from a communicational perspective. This basically means that communication is inherent in theology. Communication becomes an eye through which theology can be studied. In this context however, we will look at the dialogic turn and the concept of dialogue from the perspective of Communication Theology. As a preamble, we can say that the Catholic Church before Vatican Council II very much emphasized anathemisation when faced with divergent view but Paul VI's encyclical Ecclesiam Suam of 1964 marked the beginning of the dialogic turn in the Church. For him, Church must embrace the world with a dialogic approach and that the Church ought to take into consideration the
The Mission of the Church in Dialogue with Non-Christian Religions
The Mission of the Church in Dialogue with Non-Christian Religions The article provides a brief overview of the milestones that have encouraged new approaches to the missionary activities of the Church throughout history. The main purpose is to determine how the Second Vatican Council responded to the process of globalization after the Second World War, what its understanding of inculturation was, and what new pathways for evangelization were sought in the missionary activities of the Church. The methodological principle is the comparative analysis of documents on the foundations, goals and means of pursuing the mission in a spirit of dialogue, enabling the recognition of good contributions from non-Christian religions. The article also includes more recent theological discourse on new challenges in attitudes to the mission. KEY WORDS: the mission of the Church, milestones of the missions throughout history, renewal in relation to tradition, common core of all religions, dialogue IZVLEČEK Misijonsko poslanstvo Cerkve v dialogu z nekrščanskimi verstvi Članek daje kratek pregled mejnikov, ki so spodbudili nove pristope v misijonski dejavnosti Cerkve skozi zgodovino. Poglavitni namen je ugotoviti, kako se je Drugi vatikanski koncil odzval na proces globalizacije po drugi svetovni vojni, kakšno je bilo njegovo razumevanje inkulturacije in kakšno iskanje novih poti evangelizacije v misijonski dejavnosti Cerkve. Metodološko načelo je primerjalna analiza dokumentov o utemeljevanju, cilju in načinu izvajanja misijona v duhu dialoga, ki omogoča prepoznavanje dobrih vsebin nekrščanskih verstev. Članek vključuje tudi novejši teološki diskurz o novih izzivih v pristopih k misijonu. KLJUČNE BESEDE: misijonsko poslanstvo Cerkve, mejniki misijona skozi zgodovino, prenova v razmerju do tradicije, skupno jedro vseh religij, dialog
The Dialogue of Two Institutions: The Vatican and the PRA
Muslim World, 2008
In this age of ours, when men are drawing more closely together and the bonds of friendship between different peoples are being strengthened, the Church examines with greater care the relation which she has to non-Christian religions. Ever aware of her duty to foster unity and charity among individuals, and even among nations, she reflects at the outset on what men have in common and what tends to promote fellowship among them 1 .
International Journal of African Catholicism , 2013
Interreligious dialogue ought to lead to transformation of hearts and the theological traditions of the religions engaged in dialogue. This cannot happen when the dialogical model adopted by any of the religions is shaped by an exclusivist theology that refuses to consider the dialogical partners as possessing salvific truths, legitimate in themselves, without reference to another religion for its legitimacy. Though the Second Vatican Council encouraged dialogue among religions, the question remains, can the Catholic Church accept the view that its dialogue partners are legitimate media for God's salvific truths in themselves? After fifty years since the Council, it is important that a critical review of the dialogical model adopted by the Catholic Church be done and a more transformative method of dialogue be embraced that affirms God's freedom to engage human society through the many religions.