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Interreligious or Interfaith?

18/10/2020

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​I was at a meeting of the religious leaders of Scotland recently. The focus of the conversation was on climate change and what faith communities are doing in the run up to COP 26 which should have been happening in Glasgow next month but now postponed until next year. We were asked to reflect on the possibility of religious leaders issuing a statement on the environment and were given a suggestion as a focus for discussion – always a good idea but sometimes difficult for the person who initially draws it up.  The thing that struck me, and others, about the statement was how secular it was. There were good things in it – welcoming people to Scotland, understanding the gravity of climate change, asking that governments respond effectively and committing the religious leaders to be agents of change. No-one could disagree with those sentiments but it lacked vision or warmth. It didn’t acknowledge the belief that religions have of reverencing and respecting the earth, of how faiths understand our interconnectedness not just with one another but with this planet on which we all depend.  It didn’t call people to see the earth as a gift to be treasured.  It was, I think, an attempt to be inclusive of all whether believers or not. And I wondered if there is a danger in that.
 
Interfaith relations have changed over the years and some Christian Churches, including the World Council of Churches, are now inclined to talk about interreligious dialogue rather than interfaith. The Catholic Church has always used the term interreligious dialogue ever since the Second Vatican Council set the Church on the path of dialogue. The body that deals with dialogue is called the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, not Interfaith Relations. This quite clearly shows the parameters of this dialogue and distinguishes it from other dialogues such as that with Marxism and New Religious Movements. What has led some of the other Christian Churches to speak of interreligious dialogue has been the development of the interfaith movement which has brought about government funding, a focus on social cohesion and security and an extension of the dialogue to include people of non- religious beliefs in keeping with equality legislation.  Interreligious dialogue differentiates the pastoral and theological concerns of religions from that of the public square.     
 
Traditionally a four –fold model of interreligious dialogue proposed by the Catholic Church in its document ‘Dialogue and Proclamation’ has been accepted by the Christian churches: the dialogue of theological experts, the dialogue of religious experience, the dialogue of action and the dialogue of living together. I’ve been lucky to engage in all of these at some level and have come to value their different contributions to expanding our understanding of others. I’ve enjoyed the challenge of some of the theological dialogues, the exploration of the similarities and differences between religions and the opening of new horizons in my own faith. It’s an area which is vital but sadly lacking in Scotland since the closure of the Centre for Interfaith Studies at Glasgow University.   
 
The Dialogue of religious experience has included inter-monastic dialogue which for decades now involved Catholic and Buddhist monastics not just in dialogue but in visiting one another’s monasteries and participating in their way of life. I’ve had my own taste of that in my visits to Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery and Holy Isle and my years of deep and honest conversation with my good friend Ani Lhamo.  So too I’ve been able to have nourishing and inspiring conversations with my  many interfaith friends and can sometimes be more honest with them about my experience of faith than I can with those who share my religion.

Then there is the dialogue of living together and sharing ordinary everyday life as neighbours or co-workers. Living as we now do in a multi-faith, pluralistic society this is a dialogue which many engage in while not naming it as such. This is the dialogue that cements friendships and is the bedrock of a respectful and open society. And finally there is dialogue of action, of engaging with one another for social justice and the common good.  This is one close to the heart of Pope Francis who for years now has spoken about the reality of fraternity (sic), of the interconnectedness of all humanity  and our need for all to work together to overcome the sufferings and injustices that afflict our world.  So is Pope Francis more interested in interfaith than interreligious dialogue? This brings us back to where we started and that statement on climate change.
 
There is no doubt that living together in a world that is not just plural but also unjust is a concern for religions. For the sake of the future of our planet and humanity it’s essential that we work together and contribute to a just and peaceful society.  We need, I think, to learn to speak a language that will be understood in the market place and not revert to traditional dogmatism.  But we need to speak from our own vision and beliefs about the sacredness of human life in all its aspects and show how our contribution to the work for justice comes from a vision that can be inspiring and liberating - but also reveals the shortcomings of those who uphold and advocate it.  Religions speaking together for the sake of justice need to be humble about how they have contributed to injustice. They should be working with people of all faiths and none but must also share, I think, their own vision and belief that shows that working for justice is an integral part of who they are. In doing this they have something significant to add to their dialogue with the world. 

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Sisters and Brothers All?

4/10/2020

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Today, the 4th October is the feast of St Francis, the last day of the season of creation and the day chosen by Pope Francis to publish his third encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.  He travelled to Assisi yesterday to sign it in the chapel that contains the remains of St Francis, a saint known for his poverty and simplicity and love of nature.  Pope Francis is obviously inspired by his namesake and lives out much of his vision. He is committed to poverty, justice, lives simply and is dedicated to care for creation.  So many people admire what he is trying to do to live up to the challenge of his name and his attempts to change the power structures of the Church. But he seems to have a blind spot when it comes to understanding women.
 
Encyclicals are often eagerly awaited within the Catholic Church and then much debated and talked about. This one has caused quite a bit of controversy even before anyone has read it because of the title which is Italian for ‘’all brothers”.  Well what about the sisters? Vatican Media insists that that title includes women, saying the subtitle of the encyclical is dedicated to fraternity and social friendship. So women are overlooked not just in the title but also in the subtitle. So what has changed you might ask in a Church that is deeply patriarchal and hierarchical?  Nothing, many women would suggest. 

I’ve no doubt that there was no intention to exclude women and that Pope Francis wouldn’t want to do this but language is important and forms the way people understand and read the world.  The language of brotherhood and fraternity is male and can give legitimation to the marginalisation and even oppression of women today as much as it has in the past.  Violence against women, stereotyping their role in the family and society, forbidding them equal status within religious communities is as common today as it has been in the past – and not just within the Catholic Church.  What about the Jewish traditions that forbid women becoming rabbis or  allow husbands to refuse them a divorce, or the Muslim women who are working for women friendly mosques and a recognition that the Qur’an can also be recited publicly by women?  Women are still not treated equally.  In too many countries they are treated like servants with no independence, forced into marriage, subject to violence, rape and murder and now we have an Encyclical that is seen to exclude them.

The Catholic Women’s Council, a coalition of Catholic Women’s networks from around the world that campaigns for the full recognition of women’s dignity and equality in the Church has written an open letter to Pope Francis which says,
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“the masculine noun will alienate many, at a time when women in many different languages and cultures are resistant to being told that the masculine is intended generically. This is particularly true in English-speaking countries, where exclusive terms such as "mankind" and "brethren" are no longer used when referring to humankind…….  this issue presents a problem for many who would otherwise be fully engaged with the encyclical and committed to working with you for lasting social, spiritual and environmental transformation. At best it is a distraction, and at worst it is a serious stumbling block”

Many men don’t sympathise with this outlook, naturally enough, as they’ve never experienced this kind of exclusion. One has said to me –“it will only be a distraction if you let it”. Well I won’t let the title be a distraction from its message which I have every confidence will be a good one but that doesn’t stop me regretting it, recognising the impact that it can have on women and knowing that I will have to explain the title to many women – as I have had to do when talking about the document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Al-Azhar in February 2019. Nor will I feel angry or dismissive of Pope Francis whom Mary McAleese, the former president of Ireland, thinks is ‘overhyped’ and ‘a big disappointment for those who had hoped he would reform the Church in particular concerning women and abuse.”  Nor do I have great expectations of immediate reform of an institution that is as ancient, hierarchical and patriarchal as is the institution of the Catholic Church.  It’s entrenched in tradition, has few women working within its governmental structures and has a culture of clericalism that Pope Francis with the best will in the world and an outward looking vision is part of. For me it has to be accepted as it is. I recognise its institutional aspects, which I’m glad I’m not part of. I regret some of these but recognise the good that it does locally and globally, including the Pope attempts at reform.  I’m grateful for the faith that has come to me through the Church and I can live within it without taking its institutional aspects too seriously. I’m happy being on the margins.  

So we have a new encyclical. I look forward to reading it whenever the English version is available and no doubt will be writing about it sometime in the future.  I’m going to call it Tutti rather than Fratelli Tutti as a friend suggested! That ignores the sexist language.

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    I am  a Catholic nun, involved in interfaith relations for many decades.  For me this has been an exciting and sacred journey which I would like to share with others.

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