“To be a religious means to be an inter-religious”

“The religious, man of dialogue at the heart of the Church and with the Church” was the theme of the meeting of the Union of Superior Generals (USG), in May 2003, the Catholic information agency, Vidimus Dominum tells us. Several Superior Generals have expressly demanded that an important, even pre-eminent place be given to inter-religious dialogue, at the next bi-annual meeting in Rome, between November 26 and 29. “To be a religious means to be inter-religious,” the basic document of this meeting affirms.

The “dimensions” of the theme of inter-religious dialogue are immense. The participants of this dialogue are, according to the USG, “the Jewish people, Islam, the Hindus, the Buddhists and even the religions which have no oral tradition, like the Indian religion.”

There are four spheres of activity:1. Dialogue of life, in the framework of which people endeavor to live in a spirit of openness and neighborliness, sharing their joys and their sorrows, their problems and their human concerns”; 2. “the dialogue of works, at the heart of which Christians and others collaborate with a view to integral development and peoples’ liberation”; 3. “the dialogue of theological exchanges, where the experts seek to deepen their comprehension of their respective religious heritages and to appreciate one another’s spiritual values”; and finally, 4. “the dialogue of religious experience, where people, rooted in their own religious traditions share their spiritual riches, for example, with regard to prayer and meditation, faith and the ways in the search for God and the Absolute.”

Resuming this basic document, Infocatho adds : “The Consecrated Life finds itself faced with a new reality and new situations – multi-religious reality – which impose on it important changes in its mission, in the way it establishes its own spirituality, as well as in its formation. Economic globalization is in the process of accelerating and intensifying a globalization of religions, which has serious repercussions for the daily life of the religious.” Furthermore, “the (religious) Institutes have known how to bring to the fore, the unifying and liberating potential which each religion possesses, as well as the strong communion which is attained when the dialogue is based on ethical values which are universally acknowledged and accepted.” Finally, “the special destinataires will be the religious, who through personal vocation or following the directives of their congregation’s government, are concerned with reflection on the dialogue and the services, which a close relationship with members of other religions demands of the Church today.” No comment.