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An Interfaith Encyclical

29/11/2020

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Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, is an example of what Jonathan Sacks would call side by side interfaith dialogue as distinguished from face to face dialogue.  An encyclical is traditionally a letter to the Bishops of the Catholic world but this one, as with some others, is addressed to the whole of humanity because it deals with issues that are relevant for all.

Relations with Islam frame the document. It begins with the story of St Francis of Assisi’s meeting with Sultan Malek al-Kamil of Egypt in the 13thcy during the fifth crusade.  While the story is true – there is the gift of an ivory horn from the Sultan preserved in St Francis’ Baslica in Asissi as proof – it has become the stuff of legend. In some versions Francis, accompanied by Brother Illuminato, was on a peace mission, in others his desire was to preach Christianity and perhaps die as a martyr. Whatever was the truth of the situation the two were men of peace. The Sultan had offered peace to the Christian army five times and sought peaceful coexistence with Christians.  Francis urged the crusader not to attack the Muslims during the siege of Damietta. When they met each recognised the other as a man of God. The story is that they spent time conversing with one another about the things of God. As a result of this encounter Francis encouraged his brothers not to engage in arguments or disputes with Muslims and non- believers while using opportunities to witness to their own faith by actions rather than words.

The encyclical ends with another Christian’s encounter with Islam. This one is Charles de Foucauld who lived as a hermit in the Sahara desert in Algeria among the Tuareg, a substantial Berber ethnic group in North Africa. He was murdered there and is considered to be a Christian martyr. His approach was like that of St Francis, living close to and sharing the life of the people. He preached, not through sermons but through the example of his life, studying the language and culture of the Tuareg and publishing the first Tuareg-French dictionary.  He was challenged and impressed by the Tuareg’s  faith.  He wrote “The sight of their faith, of these people living in God’s constant presence, afforded me a glimpse into something greater and truer than earthly preoccupations”.   In Fratelli Tutti  Pope Francis describes him as one who “made a journey of transformation towards feeling a brother to all ….. he wanted to be in the end a brother to all”.  The very last words of the encyclical are that God might inspire that dream in each one of us”.

An example of this brotherhood is seen in the friendship between the Pope and Ahmed el- Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo.  Both men signed a document entitled Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together at an interfaith gathering in Abu Dhabi in February 2019.  Pope Francis explicitly acknowledges the encouragement of the Grand Imam in the writing of Fratelli Tutti which he says takes up and develops some of the great themes raised in the Human Fraternity document where together the two religious leaders declared “God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters”.  
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The Pope and Imam stood side by side in Abu Dhabi, so we can imagine them standing side by side spiritually and intentionally   in the reading and the writing of this encyclical. To underline this point a representative of the Grand Imam was at the launch of the encyclical – the first time a Muslim has ever presented a papal document. The Muslim was Judge Mohammed Mahmoud Abdel Salem, secretary general to the Higher Committee  on Human Fraternity established to promote the Abu Dhabi document.  Commenting after that event he said” I was really very moved when I first read Pope Francis’ message. I felt that the Pope is representing me in every word, in everything he said.”  The Grand Imam also publicly welcomed the encyclical calling Pope Francis his brother and agreeing that  “ Pope Francis’s message, Fratelli Tutti, is an extension of the Document on Human Fraternity, and reveals a global reality in which the vulnerable and marginalized pay the price for unstable positions and decisions… It is a message that is directed to people of good will, whose consciences are alive and restores conscience to humanity.”


The final interfaith moment for me are the prayers which conclude the encyclical. As with the Pope’s previous encyclical Laudato Si there are two of them. One of them is an ecumenical Christian prayer and the other is a prayer to the Creator which can be said standing side by side with our brothers and sisters of other faiths, particularly the Abrahamic faiths. To have a prayer like this in a papal document cuts across face to face dialogues that examine and debate the validity of interfaith prayers. In the face of the crises that face all of humanity why would we not want to pray
                May our hearts be open to all the peoples and nations of the earth.
                May we recognise the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us,
                and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects and shared dreams. Amen

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Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

14/11/2020

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Last week Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks died at the age of 74 which is not so old in this day and age.  Although it was known that he was ill his death came as a shock to everyone who knew him, either in person or through his writings.  He was a highly respected leader within his community and a great champion for Judaism but was also a towering public figure in national and civic life. He was a regular contributor to the BBC’s Thought for the Day; he sat in the House of Lords; he wrote over thirty books; he was a popular public speaker who affirmed the spiritual dimension of life and the place of religion in public life. He had a message for us all. But he was also a human being, a man who dearly loved his wife and family and perhaps the most moving tribute of all was that of his youngest daughter spoken with heartfelt sorrow and love at his funeral which had to be small because of Covid restrictions.

Two books in particular that I found helpful and inspiring were the Dignity of Difference and The Home We Build Together, both of which were a reflection on civic life and a call to face up to our responsibility for the future of the world and the society in which we live. They taught us to appreciate diversity and our unique identities within the context of a common civic identity. They taught us how to hold the tensions between the values and beliefs of our individual faiths and a secular world, all the time seeking and working for the common good.    Rabbi Sacks was unashamedly and proudly Jewish. The platform from which he spoke was that of Jewish wisdom and theology but he communicated it in such a way that it spoke to the human condition and was seen as relevant to national and civic life. This is a gift I think. Religion has a lot to offer the public sphere but is often dismissed or ignored because its relevance is not obvious or understood. Those of us, like myself, who are not Jewish heard echoes of what he said in our own faith and were encouraged to reflect on how we too could speak about our faith and values in a meaningful and relevant way. This is necessary if we are to show the world that religion, which is considered by many to be problematic, can indeed by part of the solution.

The Dignity of Difference was first published in 2002 and republished twice that same year – a sign of how popular it was. Coming as it did in the aftermath of 9/11 and the talk of a clash of civilisations it was “a plea for tolerance in an age of extremism” and suggests that “One belief, more than any other…is responsible for the slaughter of individuals on the altars of the great historical ideals. It is the belief that those who do not share my faith—or my race or my ideology—do not share my humanity.” 
The answer to this, Rabbi Sacks suggest in many of this talks, is to extend our understanding of the ‘we’ to include the ‘them’ and to recognise our common humanity -but not at the expense of denying difference. Diversity is a gift of God that can expand our horizons and enrich both our personal and social life.  However if we are to live together in peace and harmony we have to make space for one another. We have to recognise one another, learn from one another and above all engage in dialogue with one another.

 The Home We Build Together gives us a vision of how to do this. We cannot live in society as though the dominant culture is like a country house into which others are welcome as long as they conform to the host’s ways nor in a culture that is like a hotel in which we might recognise one another in passing but each living in its own silo, separated from all the others. Rather we should recognise our common home in that we are citizens of both a nation and a world that supports the future and wellbeing of us all. The very last statement in the book says it all:
“What then is society? It is where we set aside all considerations of wealth and power and value people for what they are and what they give. It is where Jew and Christian, Muslim and Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh, can come together, bound by their commonalities, enlarged by their differences. It is where we join in civil conversations about the kind of society we wish to create for the sake of our grandchildren not yet born. It is where we share an overarching identity, a first language of citizenship, despite our different second languages of ethnicity or faith. It is where strangers can become friends. It is not a vehicle of salvation, but it is the most effective form yet devised for respectful coexistence. Society is the home we build together when we bring our several gifts to the common good.”  

If the coronavirus and the threat of climate change have taught us anything it is that we surely share a common density, are facing common problems - problems that will only be solved if we work together to change our ways and thus  safeguard this precious home we share together. Rabbi Sacks remains a living inspiration to us all.


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May We Be Well

1/11/2020

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These are difficult, dark days. There’s such a lot of uncertainty and fear around. I happened to be in the centre of Glasgow this week and there was a real pall of sadness around the place. For one thing it was wet and dark, shops were closed and empty, roadworks lay uncompleted, many people wore masks. There was an air of unreality about it all. It was like being in a science fiction movie. I’ve never been too sympathetic of those people who have in the past claimed they never watched the news because it was always so upsetting.  I now know how they feel. 

The news’ reports on television are either about corona or about the American presidential election. It’s difficult not to be worried or downhearted.  What is the world going to be like after an election during which both candidates forgot each other’s name or one is so determined to pull out of the Paris agreement on climate change that the world may be tipped over into a state of no recovery? Then there were the killings in France to say nothing of Syria with its catastrophic wars and coronavirus epidemic, the abductions of women and girls in Pakistan, killings in Cameroon and Nigeria – the list could go on. I’ve now joined those who don’t look at the news too often even though I think we can’t hide from these realities. For me it’s important to face up to reality and be aware of the world to which we belong and which we in our own small way affect. What seems to be happening is that we’re all affected by a deep collective unconscious fear, sorrow and anxiety that’s around at the moment.

We all respond in different ways to this collective fear and anxiety – some by refusing to abide by any rules because they think it infringes their liberty; some by thinking  they’re immune to the virus and so continue to congregate and party; some by being so afraid of getting the virus that they withdraw  from normal interaction with people. It’s not surprising there’s a spike in mental health issues. 

Is there an answer to all of this?  I’ve just finished reading Active Hope by Joanna Macey and Chris Johnstone and it’s given me hope and a practice to contribute to what the authors call the Great Turning - that movement which will move our race and our planet towards a more life-sustaining way of being. The practice  I want to mention is called the Great Ball of Merit. This is a visual meditation which invites you to be open to all beings living now in our world, all beings who have ever lived and to be aware that in each of these lives some act of merit was performed.  There was, at the very least, one act of goodness though for many there were lives filled with generosity, courage, strength, healing, kindness , teaching etc. Now imagine yourself sweeping all those acts of merit into a great ball. Imagine it growing, rejoice and give thanks for it, knowing that no act of goodness is ever lost.  It is an immense resource for the healing of our world.
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 I’ve found this helpful, inspiring and consoling. It’s a balance to all the negativity.  There are vast numbers of people who have in the past and are still today doing great things for the world, working for what Christians would call the Kingdom of God in small and big ways. I’ve found myself in these days holding this great ball of merit and offering it for the healing of the world using a simple Buddhist prayer:  may you be well, may you be happy, may you be free from suffering.
As I’ve been praying this I’ve come to realise that to pray may you be well, may you be happy, may you be free from suffering  is to see the world and its suffering as separate from myself.  But I’m part of the world. I’m implicated in its suffering and injustices by the way I live, perhaps even by where I live in that I live in a country that has benefitted from white colonialism.  I can’t identify just with good people. I must identify with all as we are all, good and bad, brothers and sisters. So I began to pray ‘may we be well, may we be happy, may we be free from suffering.  I immediately felt a connection with the virus, with all those reacting to it in helpful and unhelpful ways, with the American presidential campaign and with the suffering of so many of my brothers and sisters throughout the world. So often I feel powerless. But I can hope and do believe that sending love and compassion into the world sows seeds of goodness and compassion in a way that can bear fruit.



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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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