Pope Francis’ Culture of Dialogue as Pathway to Interfaith Encounter: A Special Focus on Islam (original) (raw)
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POPE FRANCIS' DIALOGUE INITIATIVES WITH MUSLIMS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 6, no. 3 (2021): 56-68, 2021
Pope Francis' dialogue activities with the Muslim world have been welcomed by the majority of Muslims and covered extensively in media. His visits to Muslim countries, meetings with heads of state and official religious authorities, and encouraging Catholics for dialogue activities can contribute to world peace. This article focuses on Nostra Aetate, which is considered one of the most critical turning points in the history of Catholic-Muslim relations. This study has two arguments. The first is that Pope Francis' statements about the practice of dialogue can contribute to world peace if applied within institutions and at the grassroots. The second is that if Pope Francis' dialogue activities involve only religious leaders officially appointed by governments in the Muslim world and exclude independent religious leaders, the impact will be significantly lessened. This paper also proposes that, for fruitful dialogue activities, Catholics and Muslims should focus on moral qualities rather than theological differences.
Pope Benedict and Muslim-Christian Dialogue
Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 2023
Following the death of Pope Benedict (formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) on 31 December 2022, many reflected on his legacy and impact. This article aims to examine his contribution to and impact on Islamic-Christian dialogue by examining his writings, most notably the Regensburg address, as well as Dominus Iesus. The essay will also examine the approach to Muslim-Christian dialogue of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and his successor, Pope Francis, in the process showing how these three pontiffs' approaches to Islamic-Christian dialogue both build on and differ from one another. It will also consider how Catholic-Muslim dialogue continues to develop and how the papacy continues to adapt to changing contexts that shape its relations with Islam. It will look in particular at how Muslim-Catholic dialogue during the pontificate of John Paul II was shaped by Cold War concerns and, in contrast, how Benedict's comments about Islam were shaped by and fed into the War on Terror discourse. It will then briefly make the argument that Francis, through his visits, most notably to Iraq in March of 2021, seems to be engaged in building a postWar on Terror phase of Muslim-Christian relations.
This chapter addresses the question about the future of the Roman Catholic Church regarding ecumenical and interreligious engage- ment in light of the election of Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, as Pope Francis. Exploring the ecumenical and interreligious background of Cardinal Bergoglio could give us some elements to intuitively map the possible outcomes of his papacy in an increasingly pluralistic and secularized worldwide context. The first section of the chapter briefly outlines the history of the ecumenical movement in Latin America, with special attention to Argentina. The second section draws from mass media and interviews with key actors within the ecumenical movement in Argentina to conclude, in the final section, with the brief descrip- tion of two challenges that Pope Francis would face as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
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This article aims at exploring some recent developments in Catholic Church's recent relationship with religious others. It does so by exploring the theological‐anthropological sources behind Vatican II and some subsequent Papal teachings concerning the Church's mission of dialogue. Specifically, it discusses the notion of common origin, destiny and common humanity as sources for praxis‐oriented and faith‐based initiatives in a Christian‐Muslim dialogue. This article is divided into three sub‐sections. First, it considers the Catholic Church's renewed dialogue with non‐Christian believers, with particular focus on the theological‐anthropological turn in recent Church teaching. Second, it examines the prospects and challenges of Christian‐Muslim dialogue based on belief in God the creator and divine revelation, and human beings' response to divine manifestations in history. Finally, it considers some faith‐based humanistic and dialogic initiatives that emerge from the ...
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.
2009
The events of the last months of year 2006 have rekindled the need for dialogue between religions. The leaders of the EuroMeditelTanean Institute-ISR well have read what John XXIII called the ::;igns of time) when they decided to organize the international conference «Cultures and religions into dialogue for a common Euro-mediterranean house". My reflection will touch two points of interreligiolls dialogue. The first is about interreligious dialogue between Christian denominations and the second concerns the relationship of Christianity with Islam, from the perspective of my religion, that is Roman Catholic. In addition, these two positions will be examined again in my role as head of the Maltese network of the new Anna Lindh Foundation, established by the European Community for the dialogue between cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean landscape. THB DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE OIFFERENT CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS The meeting al the Vatican on 23 November 2006 between the Pope and the head of the Anglican Church has been reported the day after on the third page of the american newspaper international Herald Tribune. The imporlance of this article is not in the cronicle of the event, but in the interpretation and in the way it has been reported. The newspaper has a 425 NOMADS MEDITERRANEAN PERSPECTIVES Critical Review of Social and Juridical Sciences protestant slant, bLlt the columnist, Ian fisher, has no reservations in giving to Caesar what is Caesar's own. The head of the Anglican Church Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, is considered a very important leader in the Christian world with more 70 million faithful. The columnist notes that the distance between the Catholic Church and the Anglican increases progressively because the latter is open to the consecration of female bishop and to the acceptance of homosexual priests and bishops. Despite this divergence, Fisher interprets the meeting as a new form of dialogue. The journalist recogni~es that the Catholic Church has a internal capacity to transmit and communicate new forms of meelings considered difficult because of cultural barriers. Citing R. William Franklin, american Episcopal bishop, the columnist notes that this meeting did show the ability of the Catholic Church to create strong relationships even when a disagreement on basic issues exists. The observation of Franklin is very important, because it stresses the capacity of the Catholic Church to go against the tide and find ways for dialogue even when it is nonexistent and impossible. This happens even when many forces, large or small, not excluding those catholic, are pushing to confrontation from everywhere. This philosophy has old roots in the Church itself: many examples can be found in its so ancient history, from Saint Augustine to Saint Thomas of Aquino, from Raimond Llul1 to Saint Teresa of Avila, The meeting with the more important exponent of the Anglican Church takes place on the eve of the other major meeting of the Pope with Bartholomew I, Patriarch of the Orthodox greek, in Istanbul, Turkey. The Pope's journey to Istanbul has many meanings, which characterize the visit. The first is undoubtedly due to the fact that the Pope goes to visit a country that was for centuries the center of Islam. Considered the second Rome, the city of Constantinople became, after 1453, the undisputed center of Islam. After the conquest of Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, and after the fall of the mame10uk caliphate of Cairo, Constantinople became the center of this religion. The sultan is the undisputed leader of Islam and defends the spread of Sunni line in his domain, Many years have passed since the birth and fall of empires and plenty of water, as an engiish proverb says, has passed LInder the bridge. The empires of all kinds rise and set but religion survives and testifies itse:lf. The fall of the temporal powers of the Caliphates and then of Ottoman Empire) as the temporal power of popes, now belong to history. What has , remainded is "the truth transmitted by religions". In history, only the truth remains and lies, revealed, disappear from its pages. There is a common consensus to recognize that in contemporary european history, after" years of hostility towards religion, now we are witnessing a religious awakening of the European peoples. Perhaps the flood of people who attended the solemn funeral of Pop~::;" John Paul II is a testimony to that effect. ' This awakening is occurring even though a part of Europe is anti-catholic. Many are hostile to religion, especially Catholicism, directly and indirectly. This hostility
Mission Impossible? Pope Benedict XVI and Interreligious Dialogue
This is the initially accepted version; for the published version, see Theological Studies Vol 78, Issue 4, 2017, 2017
There exist very different accounts about the attitude of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI to interreligious dialogue. Does interreligious dialogue aim at theological truth and intertwine with mission, or is it an impossibility that needs to be replaced with an intercultural dialogue about peaceful coexistence and common values? This article traces the complex history and relationship of these views from the 1990s, through the much-misunderstood letter to Marcello Pera in 2008, until Benedict’s retirement. Despite impressions to the contrary, Pope Benedict XVI’s commitment to interreligious dialogue remains firm.
World Peace and Religion: The Perspective of Pope Benedict XVI
Religious dialogue within the framework of the Roman Catholic Church was enabled by a shift in the appraisal of other religions. The shift took place during Vatican II (1962)(1963)(1964)(1965) and is traceable through the positive and inclusive assessment made of other religions, explicitly stipulated in the Declaration Nostra Aetate. The desire for encounter and collaboration with followers of other religious traditions has led to the Church's commitment to religious dialogue. This commitment is being materialized in different forms, with different dynamisms, and at different layers of the Church's structures. The overall picture, however, might lead one to ponder on the existence of a Catholic vademecum for interreligious interactions.