On 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, Pope lauds progress in interfaith dialogue

October 28, 2015

Pope Francis devoted his October 28 public audience to a discussion of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document on inter-religious dialogue, which was released 50 years ago.

Among the people attending the Wednesday audience were leaders of several non-Christian faiths who had been participating in a conference on Nostra Aetate. The papal audience began with words of welcome from Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue; and Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.

In his own remarks, Pope Francis said that the message of Nostra Aetate, calling for dialogue with other faiths, remains compelling today. He added that for the Catholic Church, that dialogue is conducted “while remaining at the same time faithful to the truth in which she believes, starting from the salvation offered to all that has its origin in Jesus, the sole Savior, and that is worked by the Holy Spirit, as the source of peace and love.”

Among the fruits of the dialogue that began after Vatican II, the Pope said that the inter-religious prayer service held at Assisi in 1986, under the guidance of St. John Paul II, was most significant. “From enemies and strangers, we have become friends and brothers,” he said.

“Mutual respect is the condition and the aim of interreligious dialogue,” the Pope continued. He said that religious communities today are often suspected of harboring tendencies toward intolerance and violence, and observed that “no religion is immune to the risk of fundamentalist or extremist deviations by individuals or groups.”

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• Interreligious audience in St. Peter's Square on the 50th anniversary of the conciliar declaration “Nostra Aetate” (VIS)
• Pope Urges Religious Collaboration in Marking Anniversary (AP)

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