MAGiS in
Victoria hosted an evening conversation on interfaith dialogue last week, in
preparation for the Parliament of World Religions to be held in Melbourne in
December.
The special
guests were journalist Margaret Coffey from ABC's Radio National, and Fr John
Dupuche, the Chairman of the Catholic Interfaith Council for the Melbourne
Archdiocese.
The theme
of the talk was, ‘Catholicism and Interfaith Dialogue: Relativism or a new
theology of engagement with the world?'
Fr Dupuche
put the question to the young people gathered: Do we seek out the experiences
and insights of people of other religions, or do we huddle and put up barriers
around ourselves?
‘At World
Youth Day, [Pope Benedict XVI] said to the gathered people of other religions,
"the Church eagerly seeks opportunities to listen to the spiritual experiences of
other religions".'
He asked
the young people whether they ‘eagerly' accepted that challenge themselves.
‘To listen
doesn't mean you agree or take part. But to listen, and to appreciate, and to
savour, and to perhaps ask is there something profoundly true here that will
help and develop my faith', said Fr Dupuche.
Margaret
Coffey said it was impossible for us to live in our current pluralist society
without engaging in dialogue with other religions, even if we are often nervous
in doing so.
‘Even if
you feel insecure and fearful ... you first of all have to recognise that you
have a responsibility to who you are ... You belong to a tradition and that
tradition has given you an inheritance.'
She said
there are many forms of dialogue, some more productive than others. When people
talk past each other, speaking only about what is good in their own traditions
and lacking in other traditions, it's not dialogue. Similarly, there is no real
engagement when religious people speak about other faiths in generalities and
caricatures.
The most
productive dialogue begins with simply meeting with each other.
‘The next
step might be to take that a little bit further by attempting to make real
friends with these people... building up a trust so that through getting to know
them, you learn to tell the truth about each other's tradition. And that truth
is that in very many different ways you're all thinking about doing your duty
to God in some sense.'
Province
Express will feature audio excerpts from
the talks in the next edition.