Pontifical Council begins plenary on interfaith relations
(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue begins its four-day
plenary session on Monday with participants focusing their discussions on the theme
‘Members of different religious traditions in civil society’. Church leaders from
Sudan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Canada will explore some of the challenges of interfaith
relations in different parts of the globe and look back at the work of the Council
over the past five years. The under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious
Dialogue, Sri Lankan Fr Indunil Kodithuwakku, talks to Philippa Hitchen about the
importance of interfaith and ecumenical relations in today’s multi-faith societies:
Listen:
Fr Indunil,
who recently attended the World Council of Churches 10th Assembly in Busan, South
Korea, begins by sharing reflections on the tensions between proclamation of the Christian
Gospel and respect for people of other religious traditions.....
In light of
these tensions, he also talks about the importance of a document published in 2011
with the World Council of Churches and the World Evangelical Alliance on Christian
witness in a modern, multi-faith context....
Fr Indunil also speaks about his
own upbringing in Sri Lanka in a Catholic-Buddhist family and his close contacts with
members of different religious communities which helped shapedhis approach to interfaith
dialogue....
Finally he shares his hopes for a possible papal visit to his
home country, a possibility Pope Francis himself spoke of on the plane journey home
from his recent trip to Brazil for World Youth Day....