Interfaith 'Catholic Style'

[Guest guest]

The following article was sent to us by John Manetta who runs the Vedanta Study

Circle in Athens. Though the article is long it is an eye-opener and worth reading

in detail. We, in the Ramakrishna tradition perhaps do not quite realise, how very

limited is the concept of 'interfaith' entertained by other religions. We have a long

way to go before the world religions come to accept this ideal..........jay

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~from John~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>From Hinduism Today January 2001FYI -- just in case you missed it!Vatican hypocrisy in all its grandeur!RegardsJohn======================INTERFAITHCatholicism's Two FacesHowl's of protest - even from fellow Christians - follow Vatican declaration that

there is "no salvation" outside their Church.On September 5, with the blessings of the same Pope John Paul II, the

Vatican released Dominus Jesus, a document (see following article) which

does little to "promote reconciliation and harmony between peoples of differentreligions." It declares all non-Christian religions "gravely deficient." Even all

non-Catholic Christian churches "are not Churches in the proper sense," but

"suffer from defects."

The world press was merciless. "Vatican Rejects Equality of Religions,"

roared Associated Press. "Vatican Claims Monopoly on Salvation," declared

the Washington Post headlines. "The Vatican's Sad Statement on Salvation,"headlined Religion News Service. Their article said, "The pronouncement ..

.... is so pathetic it seems cruel even to notice it. Better to let the belligerent

words of Vatican conservatives pass unheard through the sands of reality."On October 1, the Pope offered to clarify, "Our confession of Christ as the only

Son isn't arrogance that deprecates other religions but an expression of joyous

gratitude." He added that the document "clarified essential Christian elements"

and "doesn't intend to express lack of consideration for the churches and ecclesiasticcommunities." His clarification neither refuted nor corrected any statement in the

original text.Our Way is the Only Way to GodExcerpts from "Dominus Jesus"Catholic declarations such as Dominus Jesus are written for Catholic priests

and theologians. They make difficult reading for the lay person, especially one

neither familiar with the central concepts of the Catholic Church nor in possession

of a copy of the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary. The Latin title, "Dominus

Jesus" means "Lord Jesus,Jesus is Lord," or even "Jesus Rules."

Following are excerpts from the document which is available in full at

www.cin.org/docs/dominus-iesus.html. Our own explanations of some terms and

concepts are included in brackets."The Church's constant missionary proclamation is endangered today by relativistic

theories which seek to justify religious pluralism. As a consequence, it is held that

certain truths have been superseded; for example, the definitive and complete

character of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the nature of Christian faith as compared

with that of belief in other religions, the inspired nature of the books of Sacred

Scripture, the unicity and salvific universality of the mystery of Jesus Christ [that is,salvation is only possible through Jesus], the universal salvific mediation of the Church[that is, the salvation through Jesus is only provided by the Catholic Church]."The roots of these problems are to be found [in] the eclecticism of those who, in

theological research, uncritically absorb ideas from a variety of philosophical and

theological contexts without regard for consistency, systematic connection, or

compatibility with Christian truth."As a remedy for this relativistic mentality, which is becoming ever more common,

it is necessary above all to reassert the definitive and complete character of the

revelation of Jesus Christ.

"Therefore, the theory of the limited, incomplete, or imperfect character of the

revelation of Jesus Christ, which would be complementary to that found in other

religions, is contrary to the Church's faith. Such a position is in radical contradiction

with the foregoing statements of Catholic faith according to which the full and

complete revelation of the salvific mystery of God is given in Jesus Christ."This distinction is not always borne in mind in current theological reflection.

Thus, [Catholic] theological faith is often identified with belief in other religions,

which is religious experience still in search of the absolute truth and still lacking

assent to God who reveals himself."Those solutions that propose a salvific action of God beyond the unique mediation

of Christ would be contrary to Christian and Catholic faith."The ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and

the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery are not Churches

in the proper sense [which includes the Anglicans, Presbyterians and all other

Protestants]. ... They suffer from defects. [section 17]"It would be contrary to the faith to consider the Church as one way of salvation

alongside those constituted by the other religions, seen as complementary to the

Church or substantially equivalent to her."Some prayers and rituals of the other religions may assume a role of preparation

for the Gospel ... One cannot attribute to these, however, a divine origin....

Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that other rituals, insofar as they depend

on superstitions or other errors, constitute an obstacle to salvation."With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church

founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity. This truth of

faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions

of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality

of indifferentism characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief

that one religion is as good as another."Followers of other religions [are], objectively speaking, ... in a gravely deficient

situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the

means of salvation."Inter-religious dialogue, therefore, as part of her evangelizing mission, is just

one of the actions of the Church in her mission ad gentes [that is, the Church's

efforts to convert all non-Christians]. Equality, which is a presupposition of

inter-religious dialogue, refers to the equal personal dignity of the parties in

dialogue, not to doctrinal content, nor even less to the position of Jesus Christ

in relation to the founders of the other religions. --John Manetta - Beles 28 (Koukaki), 11741 Athens, GreecePhone [++30] [0]1 09 23 46 82 -- omit [0] for calls to Greecejmanveda