Module: Dialogue Between Catholicism and Other Religions

Church in Dialogue with Non-Christians in the Light of Nostra Aetate

Submitted by- Han Zaw Htun

201900329

5 December 2023
Introduction

Through the declaration of Nostra Aetate, the Church laid out a new path of openness,

reconciliation, dialogue and collaboration among Christian and other religions. It offers

opportunity for the Catholic Church to open herself up to the truth and realities of other faith

traditions. Besides, it expresses attitudinal change and openness towards other religions,

particularly it opens a positive dialogue with Judaism that had never existed in the history of

these two religions.

In this paper, first of all, I will briefly discuss Nostra Aetate as a historical turning

point of the Church in interreligious dialogue. Then, the heart of the paper goes to the

discussion on implementation and accomplishment of the document in line with Pope

Francis’ vision of the Church towards interreligious dialogue. Finally, the third part provides

personal reflection of the document highlighting the forms of dialogue that seem to be

relevant in the context of Myanmar.

1. Nostra Aetate: A Historical Turning Point of the Church in Interreligious Dialogue

The ‘Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions,’ known

as Nostra Aetate was promulgated during the fourth and final sessions of the Vatican II on

October 28, 1965. In this ecumenical council, the Catholic Church for the first time offered a

positive insight in approaching other faiths as being integral part of the divine plan for

humanity. This significant declaration of the Church laid out a new path of openness,

reconciliation, dialogue, and collaboration among Christian and other religions. Through this

declaration, the Catholic Church has enjoyed opportunity to open herself up to the truth and

realities of other faith traditions. Most importantly, it draws special attention to the presence

of unity and commonalities among the different religious traditions in the world: their

1
common origin in God, common struggle with the riddles of human life, and their common

end in God.1

Nostra Aetate builds mainly on the writings of the Church such as Sacrosanctum

Concilium and Lumen Gentium which had proved a genuine milestone in interreligious

dialogue. While the declaration significantly recognized the truth and universality of God’s

salvation in other faith traditions, it continued to affirm the fulfilment of religious striving in

Christ. It further reflected not only on Judaism and Islam, but also on other religions like

Hinduism and Buddhism and the primordial human question of the “unsolved riddles of

human existence”2 to which different religions seek to obtain satisfactory answer.

Furthermore, the document expresses attitudinal change and openness towards other

religions. With regard to non-Christian religions, it highlights the positive elements found in

those religions. While affirming Christ as the summit of divine revelation and salvation, the

Church is not oblivious to the non-Christian religions as possessing elements of truth and

holiness. Hence, the Council observes,

The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions.
She has a high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrine
which, although different in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless,
often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men.3

By this reflection, the Church purposefully refrained from condemning the precepts and

doctrinal diversity which differ in many respects to the Church’s teaching. Instead, the

Council positively articulated the truthfulness embedded in the rituals and practices of non-

Christian religions. It is from this positive outlook that the declaration affirms the spiritual

and religious values of other religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism.

1
NA. 1. as in Austin Flannery, ed., Vatican Council II.
2
Ibid.
3
NA. 2.

2
 This positive outlook offered by Nostra Aetate signifies that the Catholic Church now

recognizes the presence of the “seed of the word” and “the ray of that truth which enlightens

all men” in other faith traditions as a working of the Holy Spirit. The Council Fathers intend

to recognize the presence of both human values and divine gifts in these non-Christian

religions. These elements not only serve as manifestation of goodness or holiness but also as

objective elements inherent in their religious traditions and ties. 4 However, these elements

must still undergo purification by the Christian message.

With this understanding, this paper is to explore how this new outlook has been

implemented and accomplished in the pontificate of Pope Francis.

2. Church in Dialogue with Non-Christians by Pope Francis: Implementation and

Accomplishment of Nostra Aetate

Every Supreme Pontiff since Vatican II has provided his vision of the Church towards

interreligious dialogue by placing Nostra Aetate as the paradigm. For example, Pope John

Paul II, who was an advocate of universal human spirituality, called for a “dialogue of

spirituality” based on his conviction in his address to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious

dialogue (PCID) in 1995. For him the Church in dialogue with other faiths must reflect a

“universal vocation to holiness.”5

Pope Benedict XVI, unlike John Paul II, had a significant reservation about

interreligious dialogue. He addressed the PCID by first praising the spiritual dialogue by his

predecessor but warned that “the great proliferation of interreligious meetings around the

world today calls for discernment.”6 He insisted that the Church’s encounter with other

religious traditions must be based on “truth” as well as “charity.”

4
Francis A. Sullivan, Salvation Outside the Church?: Tracing the History of the Catholic Response,
(Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1992), 166.
5
James L Fredericks, “The dialogue of Fraternity: Pope Francis’ Approach to Interreligious
Engagement,” Commonweal 144, no. 6 (March 2017): 10.
6
Ibid.

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 What can be said of Pope Francis and interreligious dialogue? He is deeply convinced

in building dialogue of respect and friendship with non-Christian religions because he

believes that “learning other religions is a requirement for living as Christians in a religiously

diverse world.”7 Pope Francis’ visions of interfaith dialogue are in consonants with the

guidance stipulated by Nostra Aetate and the theological directions by his predecessors

especially by Paul VI and John Paul II. During his pontificate, he has developed friendship

with non-Christian religions both individually and communally. The Pope’s pastoral

orientation of friendship is manifested in these words of a renowned rabbi Abraham Skorta,

“We come together without burying our identities…. We are not looking for a
photo opportunity, but we want what we are doing to trigger a re-thinking of
things. Ours is not a relation of ‘tea and sympathy’; …. We want to move ahead
by actions, we must advance by building bridges, through a living dialogue; not a
dialogue of words, but a dialogue of actions that reflect our commitment.” 8

Pope Francis reaffirmed his pastoral orientation of friendship and respect between

men and women of religious traditions in his address to participants from the plenary

assembly of the Pontifical Council for interreligious dialogue. He noted that due to increasing

movement of people because of migration, Christians are being challenged to be more open

to different cultures and religious traditions.9 He substantiated his position with a quote from

his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, saying that “an attitude of openness in truth

and in love must characterize the dialogue with the followers of non -Christian religions, in

spite of various obstacles and difficulties, especially forms of fundamentalism on both

sides.”10 Despite the fact that there are situations in the world where coexistence is difficult

7
Judith Berling, Understanding Other Religious World: A guide for Inter-Religious Education
(Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2004), 3.
8
Gerard O’Connell, “Pope Francis and Rabbi Skorta make history in the Vatican,” La Stampa, accessed
on October 25, 2023, https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2013/09/29/news/pope-francis-and-rabbi-
skorka-make-history-in-the-vatican-1.35984471/?ref=62
9
Cf. Francis, “Address of Pope Francis to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council
for Interreligious Dialogue,” Speech, November 28, 2013.
10
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 250.

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due to fear, the Holy Father stresses that the only way to overcome this fear is to foster

dialogue–an encounter marked by friendship and respect.

Nevertheless, the Pope reminds us of the danger of “facile syncretism” while

engaging dialogue. He encourages genuineness to one’s identity, not compromising one’s

moral truths and faith in the dialogical process. “Ture openness involves remaining steadfast

in one’s deepest convictions, clear and joyful in one’s own identity, while at the same time

being ‘open to understanding of those of the other party’ and ‘knowing that dialogue can

enrich each side’”11 In his concluding remark, he emphasizes that the prospect of

interreligious dialogue lies in “the coexistence of respectful diversity,” and “the fundamental

right to religious freedom.”12

Another significant vision of Pope Francis toward enhancing dialogue is his

commitment to fraternity. According to Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the impetus for such an

initiative is a fundamental vision of the Pope to construct a new form of dialogue that will

help foster interreligious relations intended to addressing social problems. 13 His vision of

fraternity and its relation to interreligious dialogue could be reflected from his understanding

and application of the church’s social ethics.

For Pope Francis, “fraternity” is the pastoral appropriation of “the principal of

solidarity” developed by John Paul II and it is manifested in his writings: Evangelii Gaudium

and Laudato Si. Like Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis understands fraternity to be an essential

human quality14 which enables everyone to come to dialogical encounter and promote the

common good. Without fraternity, it is impossible to build a lasting dialogue which

11
Ibid. 251.
12
Cf. “Address of Pope Francis to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue,”
13
Fredericks, Commonweal 144, 10.
14
Cf. “Message of His Holiness Francis for the Celebration of World Day of Peace,” January 2014.

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ultimately generates peace among all religions and eradicate the tendency of seeing the other

person or religion as enemies or rivals.15

All in all, Pope Francis, from his own personal pastoral experience, has taken

interreligious dialogue beyond a mere talk into practicing and living in fraternity, upholding

the dignity of the human person, friendship and respect for others.

3. Personal Reflection

Having studied dialogue in the light of Nostra Aetate, I would like to underline five

important themes. The first refers to the task of the Church not to convert people of other

faiths but to promote unity and love among all human beings. 16 For authentic dialogue to take

place, it is indispensable to avoid the concept of converting people of other faiths into one’s

own while doing the interreligious dialogue.

The second important theme that NA calls our realization is the “truth which

enlightens all men”17 The Church, through her acknowledgement and realization of the

presence of truth in other religions, she constructs a bridge between the Catholic Church and

the people of other faiths in unity and love. One of the remarkable attitudes of the Catholic

Church as expressed in the light of Vatican II is her openness to both non-Catholic Christians

and other non-Christian religious traditions. This attitude is a way for constructive dialogue.

Promoting constructive dialogue requires mutual understanding from both sides.

Building mutual understanding is only possible by forgetting the past and to work together 18

which is the third theme expressed in the text. Personally speaking, forgetting one’s wounded

past is practically infeasible but forgiveness plays an important role for constructive dialogue.

This is because there can be no authentic dialogue without forgiveness.

15
Ibid.
16
Cf. NA 1.
17
NA 2.
18
NA 3.

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 The fourth important point highlighted by NA is the fraternity of all human beings

and their equality before God since all are created in the image of God. 19 This resonates with

Pope Francis’ conviction in his encounter with other religious traditions. For Pope Francis,

“culture of encounter” is his signature phrase. In terms of interreligious dialogue, culture of

encounter requires that all religions renounce acting superiorly to one another and practice

collaboration in fraternity. Doing interreligious dialogue in fraternity enables religions in the

society live in peace and harmony.

Finally, based on the four forms of dialogue20 which are of great importance in

approaching interreligious dialogue, I would like to draw particular attention toward dialogue

of life and dialogue of action. These two forms of dialogue are not only in consonant with the

spirit of Pope Francis but also deemed to be essential for the present context of Myanmar

where the society is under social, economic and especially political oppressions for years. In

search of a peaceful co-existence among the Buddhist and Christian community in Myanmar

through dialogue, these two forms of dialogue enable common people to participate in search

of human rights in the society in order to build mutual trust, respect and understanding. The

present socio-political context of the country indicates that the primary focus on dialogue

should be based on social issues rather than doctrinal issues.

Bibliography

Berling, Judith. Understanding Other Religious World: A Guide for Interreligious Education.
Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2004.

19
Cf. NA 5.
20
The teaching of the Church affirms four forms of dialogue: dialogue of life, dialogue of action,
dialogue of theological exchange, and dialogue of religious experience.

7
Flannery, Austin, ed. Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. New
Delhi: Rekha Printers Pvt. Ltd., 2004.
Francis, “Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World.”
Evangelii Gaudium. 24 November 2013.
______. “Address of Pope Francis to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council
for Interreligious Dialogue.” Speech. 28 November 2013.
______. “Message of His Holiness Francis for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace.” Message.
1 January 2014.
Fredericks, L. James. “The Dialogue of Fraternity: Pope Francis’ Approach to Interreligious
Engagement,” Commonweal 144, no. 6 (March 2017): 10-11.
O’Connell, Gerard. “Pope Francis and Rabbi Skorta make history in the Vatican.” La Stampa,
accessed on October 25, 2023,
https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2013/09/29/news/pope-francis-and-rabbi-skorka-
make-history-in-the-vatican-1.35984471/?ref=62.
Paul VI, “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.” Nostra
Aetate. 28 October 1965.
Sullivan, Francis A. Salvation outside the Church?: Tracing the History of the Catholic
Response. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1992.