CHAVARA INSTITUTE OF INDIAN AND INTERRELIGIOUS STUDIES (CIIS)
On Thursday, 7 March, Cardinal Agostino Cacciavillan, President,
Administration of the Holy See's Patrimony, gave the Jubilee Inaugural
Lecture at the Chavara Institute of Indian and Interreligious Studies (CIIS)
in Rome. Bl. Kuriakosa Elias Chavara founded the Indian Congregation of
the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (C.M.I.) in 1855 and was beatified in
Kerala by Pope John Paul II in 1986. The Institute for Indian and
Interreligious Studies was formally inaugurated on 15 September 1977
with an opening lecture by Cardinal Garone. On 20 October 1999 the
Centre was upgraded to its present status on the occasion of the
centenary of the birth of the late Fr Placid, CMI, an eminent
historian and theologian of the Oriental Churches in India. At the same
time it was renamed to honour the Bl. Chavara, founder of the CMI who
run the Institute. The Centre offers regular courses and holds an annual
lecture series. This year is its 25th year of service. Cardinal
Cacciavillan led off the observance with his Address on Thursday
afternoon.
Swami Agnivesh gave the Annual Address 2002 on Thursday and the three
Dharma Dialogue Lectures on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Cardinal
Cacciavillan developed the work of interreligious dialogue as a
necessary step towards understanding and peace and also as a way of
opening the door to proclaiming the Gospel of salvation in places where
ancient Hindu and Buddhist religions are established. The Cardinal drew
on his experience of life in India and reflected on the teaching of John
Paul II.
I have known the CMI, Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, from 1981 on,
when I went to India as Apostolic Nuncio. I stayed there for nine years.
I had an excellent relationship with Fr Thomas Aykara, then the Prior
General of the Congregation, a gifted and pleasant person, and a scholar
too. The CMI were among the leaders in the field of interreligious
dialogue, and in that of inculturation. Besides, they were doing fine
work in some missionary dioceses in North India.
Chavara Institute honours Bl. Kuriakose Elias Chavara, CMI
At that time I also had an experience of "dialogue of life and
heart" (to use an expression which I will quote later on): personal
contacts with many people, encounters of various kinds, participation in
multireligious events.... I still treasure fond memories of all this. It
was an experience of unity and universality, yet rich in diversity.
This "Chavara Institute of Indian and Interreligious
Studies" was established in 1977, 25 years ago, and we are gathered
here to celebrate its Silver Jubilee. Thank you for inviting me.
The Institute's very name first introduces us to Bl. Kuriakose Elias
Chavara, who founded the CMI in 1855 and who was raised to the honour of
the altars by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Kerala on 8 February
1986. Some of us took part in that historic papal celebration.
John Paul II: dialogue, contact, cooperation
The theme which I would like to discuss is obviously a very timely
one. Its importance has been increasingly felt in recent decades,
especially some months ago, after the tragic events which we all shared
in and unanimously condemned.
We need to have, first and foremost, a strong personal conviction of
the importance of dialogue and that we then do everything in our power
to spread the same conviction and to allow it to take root in the hearts
of others.
Much could be said about this subject. I will limit myself to
offering some information and some observations, drawing upon the papal
documents of recent years.
1. Pope John Paul II uses the expressions "interreligious dialogue",
"meetings with the leaders of the great world
religions", "contact, dialogue and cooperation with the
followers of other religions", "positive relationship
with other religious traditions" (n. 31 of the Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia" promulgated in
New Delhi on 6 November 1999), "relationship of openness
and dialogue with the followers of other religions" (n. 55 of
the Apostolic Letter "Novo Millennio ineunte" of
6 January 2001), "dialogue between cultures" (Message
for the 2001 World Day of Peace, entitled "Dialogue between
Cultures for a Civilization of Love and Peace"), and "mutual
openness between the followers of the various religions" (ibid.).
His Holiness uses the words "meeting",
"encounter", "spirit of encounter and cooperation between
religions", in referring to Assisi 1986 (n. 31, "Ecclesia in
Asia") and to Assisi 1986 and Saint Peter's Square 1999 (Message
for the 2001 World Day of Peace), and describing those
"meetings" as "highly symbolic" in n. 55 of "Novo
Millennio ineunte".
The two references just quoted make us naturally think of the Assisi
Meeting of 24 January 2002, the memory of which is still alive
and fresh. Addressing his greetings and welcome to the participants—representatives
of Churches and Ecclesial Communities as well as representatives of
other Religions—the Holy Father called the Meeting a "gathering
of prayer for peace ... a significant continuation of that of 1986"
(Osservatore Romano, 25 January 2002, p. 6). And we
think also of the day of fasting for peace on 14 December 2001.
First goal: peace and the good of humanity
2. It is precisely here that we find specified an important goal and
result of these encounters and initiatives: that is, the pursuit of
"peace and the good of humanity" ("Ecclesia
in Asia", n. 31) or, as the Pope himself says in "Novo Millennio
ineunte", n. 55: "This dialogue (which includes the above
mentioned "meetings", "contacts", "relationship
of openness", etc.: Ed.) will be especially important in
establishing a sure basis for peace and warding off the dread spectre of
those wars of religion which have so often bloodied human history. The
name of the one God must become increasingly what it is: a name of peace
and a summons to peace".
Likewise in the Message for the 2001 World Day of Peace (n. 16):
referring to his "many encounters with representatives of other
religions", "especially the meeting in Assisi in 1986 and in
St Peter's Square in 1999", His Holiness states that "mutual
openness between the followers of the various religions can greatly
serve the cause of peace and the common good of the human family".
And in the Message for the World Day of Peace (dated 8 December 2001
and entitled "No Peace without Justice, No Justice without
Forgiveness") of 1 January 2002, one reads (nn. 12-13): "The
various Christian confessions, as well as the world's great religions,
need to work together to eliminate the social and cultural causes of
terrorism. They can do this by teaching the greatness and dignity of the
human person, and by spreading a clearer sense of the oneness of the
human family.
This is a specific area of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and
cooperation, a pressing service which religion can offer to world peace.
In particular, I am convinced that Jewish, Christian and Islamic
religious leaders must now take the lead in publicly condemning
terrorism and in denying terrorists any form of religious or moral
legitimacy.... The help that religions can give to peace and against
terrorism consists precisely in their teaching forgiveness, for those
who forgive and seek forgiveness know that there is a higher Truth, and
that by accepting that Truth they can transcend themselves". From
these thoughts and concerns of the Pope a prayer then arose in his
Christmas Message of 25 December 2001: "May Christ be the light and
support of those who believe and work, sometimes in the face of
opposition, for encounter, dialogue and cooperation between cultures and
religions".
Assisi 2002 has been a renewed and more intense appeal in favour of
peace, as well as of justice, forgiveness and life, love; a "solemn
appeal" that His Holiness, "together with the leaders of
various religions, addressed to the men of our time"; he himself
then added: "Thus we have placed another milestone on the road to
building a civilization of peace and love"; and after
thanking again the religious leaders who responded to his invitation,
John Paul II said: "Together we affirmed in Assisi that the mission
of religion consists in fostering peaceful coexistence among peoples and
cultures, in reciprocal respect" (Holy Father's remarks at the
Angelus of Sunday 27 January 2002).
Peace, common good, justice, forgiveness, life, love, mutual respect
are goals and fruits of dialogue (and of everything else that it
involves). In "Ecclesia in Asia", n. 31, the Pope mentions
"some forms of dialogue already taking place with good results,
including scholarly exchanges between experts in the various religious
traditions or representatives of those traditions, common action for
integral human development and the defence of human and
religious values".
Second goal: recognition of common values
3. In this dialogue and its forms, in these contacts, common actions
or various possible ways of cooperation (outstanding among them, those
encounters of prayer for peace) there is also the recognition of common
values. In fact, "when cultures are carefully and rigorously
studied, they very often reveal beneath their outward variations
significant common elements. This can also be seen in the historical
sequence of cultures and civilizations. The Church, looking to Christ,
who reveals man to himself, and drawing upon her experience of 2000
years of history, is convinced that 'beneath all that changes, there is
much that is unchanging'. This continuity is based upon the essential
and universal character of God's plan for humanity.... There are values
which are common to all cultures because they are rooted in the nature
of the person". "These values", the Pope continues,
"express humanity's most authentic and distinctive features.... It
is necessary to foster people's awareness of these shared values, in
order to nurture that intrinsically universal cultural 'soil' which
makes for fruitful and constructive dialogue". In this context
there is the pursuit of the values of solidarity, education and
reconciliation, besides or together with those of peace, life and
forgiveness mentioned above. All this is well set forth in the Message
for the 2001 World Day of Peace, nn. 7, 16-21.
In the same Message we first find an analysis of cultural differences
(nn. 1-6, 8), a reminder of the need for mutual respect (nn. 8, 14) and
for avoiding both a radicalization of cultural identity and the slavish
conformity of cultures, or at least of key aspects of them, to cultural
models deriving from the Western world (nn. 9, 10); the latter being the
negative and dangerous aspect of globalization (n. 11). The challenges
of migration (nn. 12-14) are also dealt with: problems regarding
welcome, respect, acceptance or tolerance, integration, possible
tensions, cultural equilibrium....
A third goal: common religious values
4. Dialogue between religions (interreligious dialogue) obviously
refers also to common religious values. It helps to
acknowledge and to take note of these, to deepen and to promote them.
But it concerns differences too. It helps then to ascertain these
differences, and to understand them.
I have already quoted John Paul II as speaking of "scholarly
exchanges" ("Ecclesia in Asia", n. 31). There is another
important text in "Novo Millennio ineunte", n. 56,
about "approaching dialogue with an attitude of profound willingness
to listen". His Holiness explains: "We know in fact that,
in the presence of the mystery of grace, infinitely full of
possibilities and implications for human life and history, the Church
herself will never cease putting questions, trusting in the help of the
Paraclete, the Spirit of truth (cf. Jn 14,17), whose task it is to guide
her 'into all the truth' (Jn 16,13).
"This is a fundamental principle not only for the endless
theological investigation of Christian truth, but also for Christian
dialogue with other philosophies, cultures and religions. In the
common experience of humanity, for all its contradictions, the Spirit of
God, who 'blows where he wills' (Jn 3,8), not infrequently reveals signs
of his presence which help Christ's followers to understand more deeply
the message which they bear. Was it not with this humble and trust
filled openness that the Second Vatican Council sought to read 'the
signs of the times'? Even as she engages in an active and watchful
discernment aimed at understanding the 'genuine signs of the presence or
the purpose of God', the Church acknowledges that she has not only
given, but has also 'received from the history and from the development
of the human race'. This attitude of openness, combined with careful
discernment, was adopted by the Council also in relation to other
religions. It is our task to follow with great fidelity the Council's
teaching and the path which it has traced".
Dialogue can open the door to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ
5. Another important point of Christian doctrine finds its place
here, namely that of the relation between dialogue and announcement or
proclamation; in other words, the question of dialogue in the
perspective of evangelization, dialogue as a way or step in announcing
the Gospel.
In this regard, the position of the Christian side can be presented
as follows:
a) "Christians bring to interreligious dialogue the firm belief
that the fullness of salvation comes from Christ alone and that the
Church community to which they belong is the ordinary means of
salvation.... Although the Church gladly acknowledges whatever is true
and holy in the religious traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam as
a reflection of that truth which enlightens all people, this does not
lessen her duty and resolve to proclaim without failing Jesus Christ who
is 'the way and the truth and the life'.... The fact that the followers
of other religions can receive God's grace and be saved by Christ apart
from the ordinary means which he has established does not thereby cancel
the call to faith and baptism which God wills for all people"
("Ecclesia in Asia", n. 31).
b) "We Christians are in duty bound, while engaging in dialogue,
to bear clear witness to the hope that is within us (cf. 1 Pt 3,15). We
should not fear that it will be considered an offence to the identity of
others, what is rather the joyful proclamation of a gift meant for all,
and to be offered to all with the greatest respect for the freedom of
each one: the gift of the revelation of the God who is Love, the God who
'so loved the world that he gave his only Son' (Jn 3,16)" (Novo
Millennio ineunte, n. 56, where the Pope refers to the
"Declaration 'Dominus Jesus' on the unicity and salvific
universality of Jesus Christ and the Church" issued by the
Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, 6 August 2000).
c) Besides the need of having firm faith in Christ and of being
joyous witnesses to hope, "a dialogue of life and heart" is
also required: "the followers of Christ must have the gentle and
humble heart of their Master, never proud, never condescending.... Love
of others is indispensable" (Ecclesia in Asia, n. 31).
Proclaim the person of Christ: thanks to God and love for our
neighbour
6. Now, some remarks on the above points a) b) c):
As to the possibility of being "saved by Christ apart from the
ordinary means", there is the following text in the Pastoral
Constitution Gaudium et spes (n. 22) of the Ecumenical Council
Vatican II: "By his incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in certain
way united himself with each man.... Since Christ died for all (cf. Rom
8, 32), and since all men are in fact called to one and the same
destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to
all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in
the paschal mystery" (this text is quoted in "Ecclesia in
Asia", n. 21 and in the Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio,
nn. 10 and 28). Yet, even as we hold this truth, we also believe that
Jesus Christ himself, the Risen Lord, has commanded: "All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." (Mt 28,18-20; quoted in
"Ecclesia in Asia", n. 19).
The actual possibility of knowing Christ and of loving him, as well
as of having all the related "ordinary means", is indeed a
great "gift", a "treasure" which Christians
themselves first received and which they are now duty-bound to pass on
to others. A gift which calls for humility, thankfulness and sharing.
The words "with the greatest respect" remind us of what
Pope John Paul II said to representatives of non-Christian religions in
Madras, India on 5 February 1986 (some of us were there): "The
Church's approach to other religions is one of genuine respect.... This
respect is twofold: respect for man in his quest for answers to the
deepest questions of his life, and respect for the action of the Spirit
in man" (text also quoted in "Ecclesia in Asia", n. 20).
And finally, regarding love or charity, it is very significant that
in "Novo Millennio ineunte" His Holiness deals with
interreligious dialogue in a chapter entitled "Witnesses to
Love". There (n. 50) we find also the following statement:
"The proclamation of the Gospel ... is itself the prime form of
charity", yet "the charity of works ensures an unmistakable
efficacy to the charity of words". Charity of works is indeed an
essential part of evangelization, and nobody can deny that the Church is
committed to it (cf. "Ecclesia in Asia", chap. VI).
My talk is now at its end. The teaching and the example of this great
Pope, John Paul II, on intercultural and interreligious dialogue always
remain solid points of reference. I am sure that the "Chavara
Institute" will continue to receive light and encouragement from
him as it carries out its great work.
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