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Nostra Aetate Catholic Church’S Relation with People of Other Religions

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Nostra Aetate Catholic Church’S Relation with People of Other Religions 259 The Catholic ChNuorscthr’as AJoeutartnee: y into Dialogue Patrick McInerney* The Declaration (NA) is Vatican II’s ground-breaking document on the Nostra Aetate Catholic Church’s relation with people of other religions. 1 The two previous Popes have called it ‘the Magna Carta’ of the Church’s new direction in interreligious dialogue. 2 For centuries church teaching and practice in regard to other religions had been encapsulated in the axiom extra ecclesiam nulla salus (outside the church no salvation). represents a ‘radically new Nostra Aetate understanding of the relations of the church to the other great world religions.’ 3 * Fr Patrick McInerney LSAI, MTheol, PhD is a Columban missionary priest. Assigned to Pakistan for twenty years, he has a licentiate from the in Rome (1986), a Masters in TheologyP foronmtif itchael MInsetlibtuotuer nfoer C thoell Segtued oy fo Df Aivrianbitiyc (a2n0d0 I3s)l aamndic Ps hD from the Australian Catholic University (2009). He is currently Director of the Columban Mission Institute, Coordinator of its and a staff member of its C. e Hnter el efoctru Crehsr iisnt iamni-sMsioulsoligmy Rate ltahteio ns anCde tnhter eB rfork eMn iBssaiyo nIn Sstiutduites’s In C2a0t1h1o lhiec wInassti tauwtea rodfe Sdy dthnee y title of Honorary Fellow of the CAeunsttrrea lfioanr MCiastshiolnic a Undn iCvuerltsuitrye.. He attends interfaith and multi-faith conferences, and gives talks on Islam, Christian-Muslim Relations and Interreligious Relations to a wide variety of audiences. 1. Vatican II, ‘ : Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions,’ inN ostra Aetate Vatican Council I, I:e dT. hAeu sBtians iFc laSninxetereyn O DP o(cNuomrethnptso. rtA, NcYom/Dpulebtleinly, Irrevlaisnedd : Ctroasntsellaloti oPnu binli sihnicnlgu sCivoem lpaanngyu/aDgoe minican Publications, 1996). 2. John Paul II, (Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1999). No 31; BeneEdcicclte sXiaV inI, A‘sMiae: eTtihneg C whuitrhc h Rine pArseisa entatives of Some Muslim Communities,’ http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2005/august/documents/hf_ben- xvi_spe_20050820_meeting-muslims_en.html; ‘Ambassadors of Countries with a Muslim Majority and to representatives of Muslim Communities in Italy,’ http://www.vatican.va/ holy_father/ benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ spe_ 20060925_ ambasciatori-paesi-arabi_en.html. 3. Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy, , RediscoEvecruimnge nViastmic ana nIIds eIrnietse r(rNeeliwg iYooursk ; DMiahlowgauhe :N JU: Pnaitualtiisst PRreedsisn,t e2g0r0a5t)i,o 1, 3N5o. stra Aetate 260 The Australasian Catholic Record did not spring out of nowhere. Its remote antecedents were the Nostra Aetate European Enlightenment and society’s growing appreciation of other religions deriving from increasing contacts and study. More proximately was widespread revulsion at the and Christianity’s complicity in the animosity which fuelled Shoah the Nazi racist ideology. Most immediately, its genesis was the mind and heart of Pope John XXIII, who had witnessed first-hand the tribulations of the Jewish people and had used his diplomatic role as Apostolic Delegate to Turkey to assist them in their need. This personal experience made him receptive to Jules Isaac’s challenge to change the Church’s attitude to the Jewish people. In this task, he found a willing collaborator in Cardinal Augustin Bea, who persevered in steering the document’s difficult passage through the Council. Another important person was Pope Paul VI, through whose programmatic encyclical the word ‘dialogue’ Ecclesiam Suam entered the Catholic lexicon for the first time. 4 Of course, was also Nostra Aetate fashioned in the ferment of Vatican II, so must be read in the context of the Council’s other documents, especially and . Lumen Gentium, Gaudium et Spes Ad Gentes is the shortest of the Council documents, a mere forty-one Nostra Aetate sentences in five paragraphs. The first deals with the unity of the human race, our globalised world, our shared origin and destiny and religions’ answers to our common questions on the meaning of life, suffering, good and evil and what lies beyond death. The second treats traditional religions in terms of awareness of a hidden power and then refers to the teachings and practices of Hinduism and Buddhism, acknowledging what is true and holy as ‘a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women.’ The third treats Muslims, with positive references to their worship and practices, acknowledging past antagonisms and looking for mutual understanding and cooperation for the common good. The fourth affirms the links that Christians have with the Jewish people, including common ancestry, the Old Testament and the Jewishness of the first generations of Christians, reproves indiscriminate accusations of Jewish responsibility for the death of Jesus and Christian claims of supercessionism, and repudiates all hatred, persecution and anti-Semitism as contrary to God’s universal love. The final paragraph opens out to all peoples, that since we call God ‘Father’ then we are all sisters and brothers, made in God’s image, so there should be no unjust discrimination and Christians should live peaceably with all. When read in the context of our contemporary, liberal, secular, democratic, multi-cultural and multi-religious Australian society where freedom of religion and religious plurality (including ‘nones’!) is taken for granted, Nostra Aetate seems quite ! But it was the most hard-fought-over document of the ho hum Council, second only to 5 Rigid Lefebrvists continue to Dignitatis Humanae. 4. Paul VI, (Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 1964). 5. For speciEficcc lteresaiatme Snut aomf :t hPea tphass soafg teh eo fC thhuer cdh rafts through the Council see Thomas Stransky, ‘The Genesis of ,’ (October 24, 2005), accesed at http://www.americamaNgaozsitnrea. orgA/ectoantte ent/aArmticelrei.ccafm?article_id=4431. For more general treatment see John W O’Malley, (Cambridge, London: Belknap Press of Harvard University PressW, 2h0a0t 8H).appened at Vatican II Nostra Aetate: The Catholic Church’s Journey into Dialogue 261 oppose it and have made it an ideological pretext for their rejection of Vatican II. The drafts of were controversial for several reasons. The Nostra Aetate initial proposal was for a statement on Judaism only, possibly to be included in the document on the Church. However, in the volatile cauldron of Arab-Israeli politics of the time, Bishops from Muslim-majority countries feared that addressing the ‘Jewish question’ might be seen as favouritism towards Israel and have negative ramifications on the minority Christian communities in the Middle East. Next the Bishops from Asia voiced their concern that insufficient account was being taken of their vastly different context as minorities among the other world religions. Therefore, the scope of the draft was extended beyond Judaism to include Islam and other great world religions and the document became a Declaration in its own right. Finally, both ‘Traditionalists’ and ‘Conservatives’ felt the drafts ran counter to previous papal and other magisterial teaching on the supremacy of the Church so would harm the authority of the Church, relativize its position in regard to other religions and damage its missionary zeal. However, despite these initial reservations, the final draft of the document received overwhelming support. At the highest level of Church teaching—an ecumenical council with nearly all of the bishops of the Church— Nostra Aetate expresses a radical change in the Church’s teaching and attitudes towards other religions. It is the first time that the Church had spoken positively about other religions. Before commenting on the implementation of and the Nostra Aetate development of the Catholic Church’s teaching in this area, it is important to acknowledge that the World Council of Churches, the Protestant Churches and the Orthodox Churches were also making similar strides in their approaches to other religions, collaboration with which contributed to the developments in the Catholic Church’s approach. It is also important to acknowledge that, as well as responding to Catholic overtures, individuals and organisations within other religions were also making initiatives in interreligious relations and forging new approaches out of their own religious resources. Implementation The promulgation of sparked a flurry of activities. Already in Nostra Aetate May 1964 Pope Paul VI had erected the Secretariat for Non-Christians. 6 Its three-fold task was promoting mutual understanding, respect and collaboration between Catholics and the followers of others religious traditions; encouraging the study of religions; 7 and promoting the formation of persons for dialogue. 8 To 6. This office was re-named the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue by Pope John Paul II in 1998. 7. I am a beneficiary of this policy, being a graduate of the Pontifical Institute for the Study of Arabic and Islamics in Rome. 8. For example, I teach tertiary level courses in Islam and interreligious dialogue at the Catholic Institute of Sydney and the Broken Bay Institute. 262 The Australasian Catholic Record achieve these aims, members of the Secretariat researched and published basic information on other religions and guidelines on dialogue with their adherents, 9 visited organizations of other religions in other countries, hosted delegations of visitors from other religions at the Vatican and took part in international conferences. They also encouraged Bishops
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