Dialogue in the Spirit of Benny XVI

My header proclaims this blog to be “In the Spirit of Benny XVI” (is it too oblique, or do you get the counter referance?). When I hear Papa Benny saying things like this, I am affirmed in my committment to his magisterium:

It would not be evangelical, nor Franciscan, to be unable to unite acceptance, dialogue and respect for all with the certainty of faith which each Christian, like the saint of Assisi, is called to cultivate, proclaiming Christ as the way, truth and life of mankind, the one and only savior of the world.

The pope has been in Assisi to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Francis’ conversion. His point is that it was Francis conversion to Christ–the only Saviour of the World–which opened his heart up to love, accept and respect all those around him. It is certainly the spirit in which I conduct ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. I am quite aware that for the last forty years, the dominant spirit of interfaith/ecumenical dialogue has been one of indifference and relativism rather than one of committment. To this, the Holy Father says:

The light of the poor man of Assisi which shone upon that event [1986 Meeting of World Religious Leaders in Assisi] was a guarantee of its Christian authenticity, given that his life and his message clearly show his choice for Christ, refuting a priori any temptation to religious indifference, which has nothing to do with authentic interreligious dialogue.”

For more info, see: http://www.zenit.org/article-19914?l=english

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *