The Church's vision
The “Nostra Aetate” declaration adopted during Vatican Council II in 1965 has been a major breakthrough in this regard: "In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions. In her task of promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.”
Nostra Aetate, Vatican Council II, 1965
In this context the Church pays particular attention to the interreligious dimension of intercultural dialogue: “Christians must work so that the full value of the religious dimension of culture is seen. This is a very important and urgent task for the quality of human life, at both the individual and social levels.” The authentic religious dimension is indeed “an essential part of man and allows him to open his diverse activities to the horizon in which they find meaning and direction.” “Human religiosity or spirituality is manifested in the forms taken on by a culture, to which it gives vitality and inspiration. The countless works of art of every period bear witness to this. When the religious dimension of the person or of a people is denied, culture itself starts to die off, sometimes disappearing completely.”
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n°559
Hence, the Church “exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognise, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.”
Nostra Aetate, Vatican Council II, 1965
Dialogue with Islam ranks particularly high on the agenda. As His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI stated in 2005, “interreligious and intercultural dialogue between Christians and Muslims cannot be reduced to an optional extra. It is in fact a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends.”
Certain pontifical councils are responsible for culture and interreligious dialogue in the Vatican:
-Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
-Commission of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews
