VATICAN CITY (CNS) Inter-religious dialogue carries some risks, but the benefits it promises to all believers and to a world yearning for peace make it a risk Christians must be willing to take, a leading Vatican official said. "We are ‘condemned’ to dialogue," said French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, in a talk titled "Inter-religious Dialogue: A Grace or a Risk?"
In its Nov. 28 edition, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano published an abridged version of the talk, which was delivered in Naples at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy.
On Nov. 30, the newspaper published for the first time an article by a Muslim author. Khaled Fouad Allam, a sociology professor at Italy’s University of Trieste and at Stanford University’s Florence program, wrote about the philosophy of dialogue and its "social urgency and ethical and moral value" in a world struggling to come to terms with war, the destruction of the environment and the potential threats to human dignity posed by new biomedical technology.
In his talk, Cardinal Tauran said that, while religion as a theme of public discussion in Europe seemed about to disappear completely a decade ago, "religions have never been talked about as much as they are today."
"How has God returned to our societies? Thanks to Muslims," he said. "Muslims, who have become a significant minority in Europe, have asked for room for God in society."
Cardinal Tauran said fear of religions specifically of religious feelings being manipulated by terrorists also has brought religion back into the public forum. In response, he said, religious leaders and believers must make it clear that true faith is not violent and that it respects and promotes the dignity of the human person.
Like any dialogue, he said, interreligious dialogue is an opportunity for people to clarify the points on which they agree and those on which they disagree.
"It supposes a common language, honesty in presenting one’s point of view and a commitment to doing everything possible to understand the arguments of the other," he said.
Obviously, dialogue carries risks, including one of syncretism, which is an inappropriate mixing of elements from different religious traditions, the cardinal said.
But the greater risk is of finding oneself unprepared to explain one’s faith fully or to respond to questions and challenges raised by another believer, he said.
In opening oneself to dialogue, he said, "obviously I do not agree to renounce my faith, but to allow myself to be questioned by the convictions of others. I am willing to consider arguments different from my own and those of my community."
"The aim is to know one another, to consider the religion of the other with kindness and to allow myself to be enriched by positive aspects discovered in his religion," Cardinal Tauran said.
"Every religion has its identity, but I am willing to consider that God is also at work in everyone, in the soul of those who seek him with a sincere heart," he said.
For Catholics, who believe that Christ is the path to salvation and the only mediator between God and humanity, the good in other religions reflects the light of Christ, he said.
"For a Catholic, to dialogue with other believers is a spiritual experience first of all and, for this reason, it is a grace," he said. "It is a decidedly religious activity, animated not only by intellectual knowledge or by friendship, but also by prayer."
Precisely because Catholics must explain their faith to their dialogue partners, engaging in inter-religious dialogue requires them to deepen their faith, to figure out the best ways to explain it and, most importantly, to live it in a way that makes their commitment obvious, the cardinal said.