pathways: JULY 09

Religious are impelled to be positioned at the cutting edge of Australia's religious and cultural diversity if we are to fulfil our contemplative and prophetic role in the church and in society. We must seek to understand the common values that we share with other seekers of God.  

The 33rd National Assembly of Catholic Religious Australia - the peak body for more than 8000 religious women and men in Australia - has clearly shown that religious diversity does not need to divide.

 

Religion in Australia is shifting ground - and it is critical that these adjustments are understood, argues Gary Bouma, one of Christianity's foremost voices in Australia's inter faith dialogue.

In the age of convergence, we are forced to live in one world ... We cannot ignore the other, the different ... Hence, we humans today have a stark choice: dialogue or death!  What might be dismissed as a dramatic beginning gains veracity during the presentation of Patrick McInerney SSC.

Catholic bishops, Catholic priests and religious are not for the Catholic people alone. Our witness and our love is for all God's people because God loves all without exception and without distinction. This is my ultimate reason for engaging in inter-religious dialogue.   Bishop Kevin Manning (Parramatta)

 

A recent Catholic-Muslim study in Auburn (Sydney) provides evidence of the community's capacity to develop beyond, or refuse, the religious categories the media seek to impose, according to Parramatta Diocese researcher Vivienne Keely CHF. 

Children of Abraham ... interfaith dialogue in action ... broadening the base ... the Auburn mosque in photographs ...

Parliament of the World's Religions ... the Dalai Lama to visit Australia ... 

Signs of Peace:  the interfaith letters of Thomas Merton ... Christian-Muslim Relations: Guidelines for Catholic in the Diocese of Parramatta  ... references

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