Response to "Inter-religious Dialogue: An Ecumenical Priority"

Response

Posted by Olivier Schopfer
09/01 04:19 PM

Subject:	Reaction of Dr. Tarek Mitri, Christian-Muslim Dialogue Department, World Council of Churches .
Response to:	Inter-religious Dialogue: An Ecumenical Priority .
Category:	Strategic issues .

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In his report to the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, the Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches addresses with remarkable clarity and subtlety some of the thorny issues that preoccupy those who are committed to the dialogue of life between Christians and their neighbours of other religions. Equally, he listens with sensitivity to the reservations of those who fear the risk of dialogue or exaggeratedly warn against its ambiguities. Well aware that current developments, political and otherwise, may be threatening to build up new attitudes of distrust and hostility, he reminds us all, Christians and Muslims in particular, of the urgency of reflecting together, speaking together and working together. He invites us to build on much of what was learned in the last decades, across the plurality of approaches, views and experiences in diverse situations.

For him, exaggerated worries and undifferentiated reactions against threats, real and imagined, nurture a conservatism of survival. History, as it is present in the public arena, is not necessarily an ancestral memory or a collective tradition. It is mediated by contemporary education and communication. Hatred is inculcated as much, or even more, by a modern discourse than by memory. If the past does not meet the needs of the present, another one can always be invented. To be sure, the emphasis on education is not superfluous.

In our religiously pluralist contexts, whether rooted in history or recent, many see our religions made divisive and their manifestations, beyond the private sphere, conflictive. Essentialism, aggravated by reductionalist and sensationalist perceptions, amplifies the differences between religious communities. Christians find themselves caught between the forces of homogenisation and those of self-affirmation. The former favour relativism, syncretism and religious consumerism. The latter, as they over-state the religious markers of nationalism or ethnicism, breed fanaticism and intolerance. Catholicos Aram I invites us to tread the narrow path between these two pitfalls.

Three decades of recent encounters have confirmed that the search for dialogue and collaboration cannot bear fruits unless they are a two-way affair. As a religious leader, rooted in the reality of a pluralist Lebanon, with its difficulties and promises, the Catholicos of Cilicia affirms his conviction that whatever challenges one partner is a challenge to both partners. He offers a timely reflection on the future of the world and the role of religions .It is often said that the next century will be religious. Some suggest that religion, in general, will draw its force from its ability to respond to disillusionment and to the quest of meaning and utopia. This is a great challenge to historical monotheistic religions such as Christianity and Islam. But others predict that religions will define the "bloody borders " among people. People of faith cannot surrender to a discourse about the future that may function like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

These urgent tasks of dialogue are far from being exhaustive. They point to the responsibilities ahead of us. But we are reminded that this sense of urgency should not divert us from the long-term necessity of continuing to deepen our mutual understanding and trust. The World Council of Churches has held in tension these two obligations. The words of Catholicos Aram I suggest that such tension can be creative.

Dr. Tarek Mitri
Director
Christian-Muslim Dialogue Department
World Council of Churches
Geneva