New Vatican Note proclaims success of dialogue [News Analysis]

September 17, 2026

A Journey of Hope, the new Vatican note on the growth of interfaith dialogue since Vatican II, acknowledges that “it is important to remember that ‘dialogue’ is not a magic formula.” But if it is not treated as magical, the word “dialogue”—which appears 129 times in the 60-paragraph document—is unquestionably the leitmotif of the Vatican message.

The document, released on September 16, celebrates the 60 years of interfaith dialogue spurred by the release of Nostra Aetate, the landmark conciliar document. It was jointly prepared by the Vatican dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith, Interreligious Dialogue, and Christian Unity; and signed by the prefects of those offices: Cardinals Victor Fernandez, George Koovakad, and Kurt Koch, respectively. The Note, entitled A Journey of Hope, was approved by Pope Leo XIV at an audience in June.

While acclaiming the benefits of dialogue, the document downplays the inherent tensions between the laudable desire to respect other religious beliefs and the evangelical imperative to bring all peoples to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. A Journey of Hope could lead readers with the impression that the ultimate goal of the Church is to promote friendly relations among different faiths, rather than to “baptize all nations.”

Nostra Aetate did indeed introduce a new perspective on relations with other religious bodies, acknowledging that while the Catholic Church claims the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit is not limited by the sacraments of the Church; the Almighty can bestow gifts of grace and truth in other—sometimes surprising—ways. So the Council taught that the Church “rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions.”

Still the missionary impulse also prompts the realization that other faiths, whatever their virtues, lack the fulness of the truth and the sure means to salvation that the Catholic Church offers. So the best sign of true friendship for people of other faiths is the urge to share the Gospel. Interfaith discussions can ultimately serve that end, by forming the genuine friendships and confidences that open hearts to the Good News.

That would be a traditional understanding of Catholic relations with other faiths. But A Journey of Hope opens with the claim that Nostra Aetate “marked a profound change” in that understanding.

First, the People of Israel

The Note recalls that Nostra Aetate was originally conceived by Pope John XXIII as “a response to the tragic consequences of antisemitism” that had led to the Holocaust. While the scope of the document was later expanded to include other faiths, the new Vatican statement describes Nostra Aetate as “the first magisterial statement that clearly recognizes the Jewish roots of Christianity.” Oddly, the document immediately goes on to cite the Letter to the Romans, which “affirms that the patriarchs belong to the People of Israel and that Christ, according to the flesh, descended from them.” Surely the Church had always traced her roots to the faith of those patriarchs.

For that reason, the relationship of the Catholic Church with the Jewish faith is unlike her relations with other religious groups. The Chosen People retain their special place in the work of salvation. Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church the Note reminds readers: “God’s covenant with the Jewish people is irrevocable, and this continually challenges the Church.”

But of course the document approved by Vatican II went far beyond a call for friendlier relations with Judaism. The Note applauds the Church’s initiatives over the past 60 years to improve relations “with followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Zoroastrianism, as well as with traditional religions, particularly those of Africa.”

Conspicuously missing from that list is a mention of Islam. But Nostra Aetate did express “esteem” for Islam, and voiced the hope that mutual understanding with Muslims would bring an end to the “quarrels and hostilities” that had marked the history of Christian encounters with Muslims. The new document follows suit, noting with concern “the growing critical awareness of manifestations of Islamophobia,” and quoting the words of Pope Francis:

We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition.

There is, however, a hint in the Note that relations with Islam remain strained, and “it is necessary to highlight the persecution suffered by Christians in various parts of the world at the hands of extremist religious groups.”

Judging the results

How then should we appraise the results of discussions with Islam, and with other religious traditions? The Note hopefully proclaims that “believers of different traditions—and above all their leaders—while remaining aware of their irreducible differences, are called to seek, with clarity and hope, the conditions necessary for peaceful coexistence.”

In an interview with Vatican News after the release of the new document, Cardinal Fernandez, the outspoken head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, went further, making a sweeping generalization: “Every religion—and all religions—stands for peace. Never for war.” Needless to say, that blanket statement fails to take into account the Islamic leaders—not few in number—who preach jihad. Cardinal Fernandez bolsters his claim by quoting Pope Leo, who said that “those who use the name of God to legitimize terrorism, violence, or war betray His true nature.” But with that sentence Pope Leo is not absolving the Islamic world of all connection with terrorism; on the contrary he is demanding that responsible Muslim leaders renounce the violence of the jihadists.

The new document offers another way to judge the benefits of interfaith dialogue, this time citing the words of Pope Francis, who said that “a universal criterion of discernment that can be found in the sacred texts of the various religions: namely, whether one welcomes or rejects the wounded person lying by the roadside.” Pope Francis goes on to say:

Concrete actions for the most vulnerable is the essential measure by which the integrity of every project—where political, economic, social, academic, religious, or cultural—must be judged. The poor, in all the forms their vulnerability may take, are the compass that allows us to know whether we are moving in the right direction.

Using that standard of measurement we might profitably gauge the value of humanitarian initiatives taken in conjunction with other communities of faith. But interfaith dialogue—as opposed to public projects—aims at a discernment of truth. The Vatican Note wisely cautions:

Dialogue, therefore, presupposes a clear awareness of one’s own religious and cultural identity, together with a genuine openness to otherness, which is an indispensable condition for coexistence within pluralistic societies. It must be free of ambiguity, avoiding relativism and syncretism, with the fullest possible affirmation of identity and the fullest possible commitment to dialogue.

A ‘profound change’

Nostra Aetate, the Note says, “marked a profound change in the Church’s understanding and expression of her relationship with followers of other religions.” What is the nature of that change?

A Journey of Hope explains that “the intransigent defense one’s own position and proselytism, as the only form of encounter with ‘the other,’ no longer make sense in a world that increasingly resembles a global, interconnected village in continual ferment.” But when was it, exactly, that the Catholic Church stood solely for intransigent defense? A purely defensive attitude toward the faith is completely contrary to the missionary spirit that sent so many heroes of the faith out into the world, preaching the Gospel to people of foreign lands, foreign cultures, and foreign faiths.

As for “proselytism,” the word itself has fallen into ill repute, being used today as an approach that uses pressure, and sometimes even violence, as a means of conversion. In the past, “proselytism” was considered a synonym for missionary work, and in that sense encouraged by the Church. But the Note reminds us that Pope Benedict XVI warned against religious fundamentalism, and said that “spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.”

Yes, but—what the Note does not mention—Pope Benedict said those words in his famous Regensburg address, in which he strongly argued for a rigorous critical examination of the truth-claims of religions. And in fact the angry reactions to that speech in the Islamic world, marked by misunderstanding and stained by violence, vividly illustrated the limits of interfaith dialogue.

So again, what is the fundamental purpose of interfaith dialogue? The Note tells us:

It is not a matter of founding one great world religion in which all beliefs are flattened. Such a possibility must be excluded out of respect for oneself and for others. Rather, it is a matter of building a fraternal society capable of accepting differences.

We can accept differences, insofar as they are differences of style, or taste, or cultural heritage. But when it comes to matters of faith, missionaries set a higher goal.

-PFL

 

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Further information:

• Note: A Journey of Hope [full text]
• Vatican dicasteries publish document marking 60 years of interreligious dialogue (CWN)
• Nostra Aetate [full text]