The Virgin Mary in the Breadth and Scope of Interreligious Dialogue

Marian Studies Volume 47 Marian Spirituality and the Interreligious Article 7 Dialogue 1996 The irV gin Mary in the Breadth and Scope of Interreligious Dialogue John Borelli Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Borelli, John (1996) "The irV gin Mary in the Breadth and Scope of Interreligious Dialogue," Marian Studies: Vol. 47, Article 7. Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol47/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Marian Library Publications at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marian Studies by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Borelli: Mary in Interreligious Dialogue TilE VIRGIN MARY IN TilE BREADTH AND SCOPE OF INTERREUGIOUS DIALOGUE john Borelli, Ph.D.* Interreligious Relations as Catholic Context "Interreligious relations today are clearly at the heart of the Catholic Church's life and ministry and will increase in signifi cance as we move into the third millennium of Christianity." With this statement, Bishop Joseph J. Gerry, Episcopal Mod erator for Interreligious Relations, National Conference of Catholic Bishops [NCCB], begins a recently published article entitled "The Commitment of the Catholic Church to Interreli gious Relations:' 1 He shows how this is obvious from events during the pontificate of Pope John Paul n. Indeed, serving as an example to the whole church, the pope has converted the initial directives coming from Vatican Council n into concrete instances of pastoral ministry. Besides numerous addresses to multireligious audiences, encounters with peoples of faith, and formal, structured interreligious dialogues during his trips abroad, there are a number of extraordinary occasions we can recall: the first visit of a pope to the synagogue of Rome (1986), the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi (1986), the first ad dress of a pope to a large gathering of Muslim youth (Morocco, 1985), and the opening of the Sixth Assembly of the World Con ference on Religion and Peace [WCRP] (1994). In November 1994, Pope John Paul n opened the first session of WCRP's Sixth Assembly in the Vatican's Synod Hall about one week •John Borelli (Ph.D., Fordham University) is Director for Interreligious Relations, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and a consultor to the Holy See's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He can be reached at the Office of the Ecumeni cal and Interreligious Affilirs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 3211 Fourth St., Washington, DC 20017-1194. 1The Living Light (W"mter 1995): 6-12. XLVII (1996) MARIAN STUDIES 29-49 Published by eCommons, 1996 1 Marian Studies, Vol. 47 [1996], Art. 7 30 Mary in Interreligious Dialogue after the synod on consecrated life had ended. As he entered the hall and glanced around at the seats filled with representa tives dressed in the constumes and habits of their traditions, the pope observed spontaneously, "Ah, the second synod of Rome!" Encounters with peoples of other religious traditions have, as we shall note, influenced him in significant ways. Under his guidance there have been notable contributions to the official documentation too, including the consequential reflections in the 1991 encyclicalRedemptoris missio and the extraordinary text "Dialogue and Proclamation," also issued in 1991, jointly prepared and issued by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for In terreligious Dialogue [PCID]. Pope John Paul ll's apostolic exhortation Tertio millennia adveniente includes specific guidelines for interreligious dimensions in preparation for the great Jubilee Year and offers important reflections on the place of this special ministry in the future life of the Church. Cardi nal Francis Arinze, PCID President, has asserted in reference to preparations for the Jubilee Year: "The Catholic Church wants to enter into contact with the followers of other religions in a spirit of mutual understanding and respect and, hopefully, collaboration, especially in promoting common values and pro jects, particularly in matters touching justice, peace, develop ment and respect for human dignity." 2 With Pope John Paul ll's emblem bearing the solitary mark of Mary in the shadow of a cross, we are reminded how he has emphasized the role of the Virgin Mary in the life and teaching of the Church. His 1984 apostolic exhortation on religious life, Redemptionis donum, concludes with an evocative medi tation on the Annunciation; similarly, his apostolic exhortation of 1996, Vita consecrata, concludes with an exuberant invo cation of Mary. Fr. Frederick Jelly, in the opening pages of his re view of Mary in the Catholic tradition, drew attention to statements by Pope John Paul ll in calling and concluding the :ZCardinal Francis Arinze, "The Holy Year: A Call to Overcome Divisions and In difference," in Preparing for the Year 2000 (Rome: Urbi et Orbi Communications, 1996),239. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol47/iss1/7 2 Borelli: Mary in Interreligious Dialogue Mary in Interreligious Dialogue 31 Extraordinary Synod of 1985, convened in honor of the twen tieth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council, and observed how this pope has endeavored "to synthesize the main features of a Madonna for Catholics today" and "appro priately ... in close connection with the event in the Church that has the greatest single influence upon the renewing of Mary's portrait, namely, Vatican 11."3 Other examples include Pope John Paul II's 1987 encyclical Redemptoris mater, which "develops and updates the Second Vatican Council's teaching contained in Chapter 8 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium [LG],4 and his 1988 apostolic letter on women Mulieris dignitatem, which begins with a reflec tion on Mary. There is a definite parallel here that can be explored for fruitful theological purposes, and this paper is only a begin ning. The preparation of the schema that would become Sec ond Vatican Council's "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" signaled a growing consensus, but a somewhat inventive shift, towards a new ministry for interreligious relations. Guidance and encouragement would be offered by Pope Paul VI's en cyclical Ecclesiam suam (1964), and then the commitment of the Church would be expressed in the Council's "Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions"(Nos tra aetate). In the same way, during the preparation of the same important schema on the Church, a vote was taken in the second session of the Council (1963) whether to have a sepa rate conciliar document on Mary or to include the major statement on Mary within the eventual document on the Church. Only a margin of forty votes favored inclusion. This was one of the closer votes taken at the Council! Again, Pope Paul VI played a mediating role in his development of the title "Mother of the Church," bringing about a desired but ten tative consensus for a recovery of Marian teaching within 3Frederick M.Jelly, O.P., Madonna: Mary in the Catholic Tradition (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1986), 7. 4These are the words in Mulierls dignitatem, which Pope John Paul II used to de scribe Redemptorls mater. Published by eCommons, 1996 3 Marian Studies, Vol. 47 [1996], Art. 7 32 Mary in Interreligious Dialogue Christology and Ecclesiology.5 Pope Paul VI would subse quently develop a fuller view in his 1974 apostolic exhortation Maria/is cultus.6 I do not want to belabor the relationship between the two sets of teachings as exactly parallel, because Marian teaching has been clear and universal in the life of the Church from very early times, while interreligious understanding-though proposed by astute teachers and argued by adept defenders from ancient times through every age-has only recently been broadened to an explicit teaching with universal status.' But, to echo Fr.Jelly's observation cited earlier, the Catholic com munity entering the third millennium is the Catholic Church shaped by the Second Vatican Council. In both Marian teach ing and interreligious understanding there were definite steps taken over thirty years ago. In these intervening decades, how have theologians taken account of developments in interreli gious understanding when reflecting on the role of Mary in Catholic life and teaching, and how have Catholic historians of religions taken account of Marian teachings, particularly those from the Second Vatican Council, and in exploring the rich traditions of the peoples of faith who inhabit our cities, towns, and earth? The official publication of the Holy See in the field of inter religious relations is the PCID's journal Pro Dialogo, which first appeared in 1966 as the Bulletin of the Secretariat for Non-Christians (the current issue is no. 92). A quick glance at the indices reveals very rare references to Marian teaching. Similarly, one finds a dearth of sources in Marian literature about the role of Marian teaching in interreligious dialogue. Only now are these two broad questions being asked in a sin gle conference. I applaud the Mariological Society of America SThls overviey.' of Marian teachings and the Second Vatican Council is offered as the subject of an entire chapter in a recent book by George H.Tavard, Tbe Thousand Faces oftbe Virgin Mary,A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville: liturgical Press, 1996), 202-17. 6See also:]elly,Madonna, 7-8. 7for an account of the history of the Catholic response to the question of salvation outside of the Church, see FrancisA.Sullivan,S.J.,Salvatlon Outside tbe Cburcb?(New York: P.lulist Press, 1992). https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol47/iss1/7 4 Borelli: Mary in Interreligious Dialogue Mary in Interreligious Dialogue 33 for beginning what will hopefully prove to be a worthwhile in vestigation for theologians and historians of religions within Christian circles and for the meeting of Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, and others in interreligious dialogue.

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