ASIA UCAN COMMENTARY - THE TWO FACES OF THE VATICAN CURIA ON INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

COLOMBO (UCAN) -- Two recent Vatican documents setting "different directions" for interreligious dialogue show that the debate in the Church on this matter is open, according to Oblate Father Tissa Balasuriya.

The Sri Lankan theologian, who directs the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo, says in this commentary for UCA News that the more significant dialogue of the moment may be one within the Church.

Recently I received two Vatican documents. One entitled "Dominus Iesus: On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church" from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and the other the journal "Pro Dialogo" from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), headed by Cardinal Francis Arinze, containing a report on the Interreligious Assembly held in Vatican City Oct. 25-28, 1999, with "about 200 participants, from some 50 countries and representing some 20 different religious traditions."

Many comments may be made on the recent Declaration of the CDF on its own presuppositions and philosophical terminology, and concerning trinitarian theology, understanding of divine inspiration, citing of the Fathers of the Church, God's concern for creation, human history and human liberation, God's universal salvific will and justice to all peoples, Sacraments, ecumenism.

But this brief note will refer only to the impact of the two documents on the issues of interreligious relations, especially in Asia with its plurality of religions and cultures. These two documents present different approaches to interreligious dialogue.

In the new Declaration proposed by the CDF and approved by Pope John Paul II, there is a theoretical, dogmatic approach towards interreligious relations. It begins with an affirmation of the uniqueness and superiority of Catholicism and the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation for all humankind. It claims that the Church has the absolute truth on matters religious, and that the Bible is the only inspired word of God. Only Christians have theological faith with the grace of God, whereas others have at best a human religious wisdom (no. 7).

"If it is true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace, it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation" (no. 22).

Interreligious dialogue is seen as a part of the evangelizing mission of the church, which "must be primarily committed to proclaiming to all people the truth definitively revealed by the Lord, and to announcing the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ and of adherence to the Church through Baptism and the other sacraments, in order to participate fully in communion with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (no. 22).

This may be a conclusion of a statement on dogmatic theology as it has evolved in the Catholic Church. It quotes several recent documents from the Pope and the CDF itself. It warns against relativism, syncretism and indifferentism, but does not deal with problems of interreligious relations in the real world.

When I showed this Declaration to some well disposed persons of other religions here in Colombo, their response was: "We are not interested in such a dialogue that has the ulterior motive of conversion to Catholicism." They see the Declaration as treating them as "minus habentes" (gravely deficient) in regard to salvation and as presenting God as favoring those who are baptized. They see dialogue as undertaken by Catholics from a position of superiority and particular friendship of God, knowing the secrets of the mystery of human life and destiny. They cannot have a serious desire to dialogue with Catholics if their religions are not recognized for their own intrinsic dignity. Further, they say that if they too take similar uncompromising dogmatic positions no dialogue is likely to be meaningful. They say they are satisfied with their religions without having to be converted to the Catholic Church.

They ask further, how have the Christians, privileged of God, behaved in the past in our countries? How do they act today with reference to the issues such as justice, peace, the arms race, AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), inequality, globalization?

They say that it is this way of understanding Jesus as the necessary and universal savior that is leading to excesses of Christian fundamentalists in some Asian countries. They allege that the present violence against Christians in India, Pakistan and Indonesia is partly due to such fundamentalist missionary activity of Christians. It is a clash of fundamentalists of different religions that do not respect other views.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue document deals with the problems of living in a world of civilizational crisis, in which the religions have the duty of collaborating to bring about what the pope calls a "civilization of love." The October Assembly saw interreligious dialogue as "the accepted path of collaboration to form a better society for humankind."

The Assembly message and final report reflect on the evils and = sufferings in the world, and the message affirms, "We are conscious of the urgent need:

We are convinced that our religious traditions have the necessary resources to overcome the fragmentations which we observe in the world and to foster mutual friendship and respect between peoples."

The report states, "Particular attention needs to be paid to respecting the other's self-definition of their own religious identity. ... People may be urged to commend their faith to others above all by the way they live, by the quality of their actions and their care for others. ... We rejoice that we have striven to truly understand each other and express ourselves in love and respect."

Pope John Paul, in his address to the Interreligious Assembly Oct. 28, expressed great joy at the development of interreligious relations, especially since the encounter at Assisi, Italy, in 1986, and encouraged the furtherance of such dialogue and action for the sake of humankind.

He said, "The task before us is therefore to promote a culture of dialogue. Individually and together, we must show how religious belief inspires peace, encourages solidarity, promotes justice and upholds liberty."

He also said, "Greater mutual esteem and growing trust must lead to still more effective and coordinated common action on behalf of the human family."

Again, "The teaching and example of Jesus Christ have given Christians a clear sense of the universal brotherhood (sic) of all people. Awareness that the spirit of God works where he wills (cf., Jn 3:8) stops us from making hasty and dangerous judgements, because it evokes appreciation of what lies hidden in the hearts of others. This opens the way to reconciliation, harmony and peace. From this spiritual awareness spring compassion and generosity, humility and modesty, courage and perseverance. These are qualities that humanity needs more than ever as it moves into the new millennium."

When I shared with persons of other religions here the proceedings of this Interreligious Assembly, noting the Catholic Church's initiative and participation in it, they were inspired and encouraged by it to continue to work together for our common goals of a "civilization of love." They wanted such documentation to made better known in our countries.

The pope and the Catholic participants in the Interreligious Assembly convoked by the PCID are deeply respectful towards other religions, which they see as a sign of the presence of the Divine, and necessary partners in the search for a more just and peaceful world. The hundreds of participants saw the religions as valuable and necessary partners in building human community in their countries and world at large.

We are dealing here with two different paradigms of theology and understanding of Jesus Christ and mission of the Church. In one of them the Church was / is the primary goal of mission. Jesus is seen as the universal savior, Lord dominant over all. The other is one in which fostering the values of the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus is the principal goal of the Church. Jesus is seen here more as the one who came to love and serve, meek and mild and liberator of humankind bringing about the values of the kingdom of God on earth.

These two paradigms, quoting different scriptural texts in their favor, have led to differing forms of presence of Christians in the world, different understandings of goals and methods of mission, different relationships with persons of other faiths and persuasions.

This is an ongoing debate within the Church at large and has not yet been fully resolved in theory or in practice as seen in the recent Declaration of the CDF and the documents of the PCID-led Interreligious Assembly. Perhaps the more significant dialogue has to be within the Catholic Church itself as between the two Vatican Dicasteries: the CDF and the PCID led by two cardinals. The pope may be drawn in two different directions by these two Vatican curial bodies. For the present we may state that the CDF Declaration, however justified it may be from our point of view, it is a non-starter for meaningful interreligious dialogue. It may be even dangerous in that it hurts others with whom we live and move and have our being.