2014-05-20 16:26:21

Pope pledges Church’s commitment to inter-religious dialogue


May 20, 2014 - ‎Pope Francis has stressed that the Church will always remain committed to dialoguing with those of other religious traditions, saying engaging in inter-religious dialogue does not mean relativizing the Christian faith. He said this in a message to the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue that marked its fiftieth anniversary ‎on ‎Monday, May 19. ‎ Writing to the Council President, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Pope stressed that the Church will always remain committed to dialoguing with those of other religious traditions. The Pope recalled that on May 19, 1964, when Pope Paul VI instituted what was then called the ‎‎“Secretariat for non-Christians”‎, the Church felt animated by a sincere desire to meet and engage in dialogue with entire humanity. Pope Francis stressed that dialogue is possible only starting with one’s identity. And St. John Paul II shows that dialogue and preaching do not exclude each other, but are intimately linked to each other. However the two must maintain their distinct characters, without confusing one with the other, politicizing them, or regarding them as equivalent or inter-changeable. Evoking the episode of Jesus on the way to Emmaus, the Pope said the Church wants to be close to and accompany every man on his way. This walking together, he noted, is all the more necessary today, marked by profound and unprecedented interaction among peoples and diverse cultures. The Pope pledged the Church’s commitment to dialogue and intensify already fruitful cooperation with adherents of other religious traditions, sharing in the desire to build friendly relations and participating in numerous initiative of dialogue.







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