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On Oct. 28, 1965 -- 45 years ago this fall -- Pope Paul VI promulgated the document "Nostra Aetate" at the Second Vatican Council.

This document discussed interfaith dialogue, especially our relation as a Church with the Jewish people. But it also challenged us to be better educated about and in dialogue with all the great religions of the world.

If this document did not begin the current interfaith dialogue movement, it certainly made it an important part of the world's religious agenda. Yet, so few Catholics know about Nostra Aetate. Is this document really such an important piece of our Council history?

On Sept. 8 at St. Vincent de Paul parish in Albany, I have been asked to discuss the current state and future of interfaith dialogue at the convocation for St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry, the Albany Diocese's graduate school for theology.

I have been involved in this conversation for more than 20 years. It has been an education to listen to and learn from Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims and other Christians about how they think and talk about God. I have been consoled to hear the many and varied ways in which we similarly talk about and understand God's presence.

I have been challenged to hear and appreciate the differences in what we believe and wonder how those differences contribute to our knowing God. But this important work has yet to be appreciated by the vast majority of believers.

We still live in our own parochial worlds. Catholics infrequently talk to other Christians about their faith in God. Even more seldom do we speak to people of other than the Christian faith about how they understand and worship God.

But our world is getting smaller. We still have so much to learn about our global neighbors. Our religious illiteracy is causing great harm. We need to better understand and appreciate the various ways other peoples and nations have come to know God and to praise and worship God.

On Sept. 8, I hope to engage in a conversation rather than a lecture. I would like to hear why others think interfaith dialogue is or is not important today; I will share why I think it is necessary.

Our world seems to be trying to give birth to a new world, a more global world, perhaps an interfaith world. What might that "brave, new world" look like? Why are so many of our tried-and-true institutions like schools and governments, health care and the law, family systems and religious communities in trouble and too often failing us?

Can interfaith dialogue -- people trying to worship, honor and believe in the goodness and mercy of God -- provide hope and insight in this rapidly-changing world? If so, what are some rules for engaging in faithful and respectful dialogue?

As a smaller and more complex world, we can decide that "everyone should simply be and think just like me" (in other words, be exclusivist). This will lead to many more conflicts and a great deal of distrust.

We can believe that "once good people really understand what I believe, then they will think and act like I do." This is a nice but naïve and finally unrealistic position.

Or we can realize that we are living in a time in which our language -- at least our language for talking about God -- is simply too limited and small to help us understand our differences. Now is the time to listen and learn from each other. This position is promising, but very difficult to accomplish.

Are there some rules for engaging in this new way of being religious? I will share some thoughts from my experience - and these are just a few of the ideas we will discuss together.[[In-content Ad]]

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