Dialogue \u27On The Ground\u27: The Complicated Identities and the Complex Negotiations of Catholics and Hindus in South India

Interreligious dialogue is a vital theological concern for the Catholic Church in India. Over the past three decades, church leaders, progressive theologians, and maverick monastics have experimented with various models and forms of interreligious dialogue. Quite distinct from these contrived institutional initiatives is the dynamic of intimate, subtle, and spontaneous ritual exchange and dialogue between ordinary Hindus and Catholics occurring in the arena of popular piety and rituals at the grassroots level - often in opposition to institutional norms and directives - that may be described as dialogue on the ground. In light of ethnographic research at the shrine of St. Anthony at Uvari in Tamil Nadu - that serves as a representative sample of regional shrines in rural south India - this essay focuses on the logic and grammar of a specific public ritual locally known as asanam as an illustrative case-study of the \u27dialogue on the ground,\u27 delineates the social and religious themes embedded in this ritual, and reflects on its implications for interreligious dialogue

Christian discipleship and interreligious dialogue: A theological exploration

What is the relationship between Christian mission and inter-faith engagement? What has interreligious dialogue got to do with Christian discipleship? Is one in competition with the other? Is one subsumed within the other? Is one effectively vitiated by the other? And what is the relation of mission to discipleship? Is it the case that ‘making disciples’ is the goal of mission? “Discipleship has been for centuries a way of thinking and speaking about the nature of the Christian life… But what is meant by Christian discipleship?” Is engagement in dialogue an authentic component of Christian discipleship and witness? Or is interreligious dialogue enjoined, in the end, by virtue of being subsumed to mission, whose aim is something other than the pursuit of dialogical relations? These are examples of the deep questions and theological issues that have arisen ever since, in the course of the twentieth century, a sea-change occurred with the wider Christian Church in regard to relationships with, and views about, other religions. This paper addresses just three questions: Is there a biblical basis for inter-faith engagement? What may we make of the ‘Great Commission’ in respect to interreligious dialogue? What is the understanding of mission in regards to discipleship, and how might that relate to interreligious dialogue

Internet-Mediated Interreligious Dialogue A Study Case on @KatolikG’s Model of Dialogue

Internet-mediated interreligious relations could go in two directions: increasing the number of interreligious encountering with weakening process of religious exclusivism and lead people to religious fundamentalism and interreligious polarization. In the Indonesian context, the emergence of the Garis Lucu (Funny line) social media platforms allow a dialogical internet-mediated interreligious relation rather than the monologue one. This opportunity especially works in the relation between @KatolikG and @NUGarisllucu, two (unofficial) religious-based social media account that cover Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook Page. This study uses @KatolikG perspective on looking for several patterns of internet-mediated interreligious dialogue. The study finds three patterns of internet-mediated interreligious dialogue: doing daily dialogue, discussing sensitive issues, and doing social actions. Within these three works, @KatolikG contributes in sharing communal agenda and concerns that enable people to work hand in hand in supporting interreligious dialogue. Following the idea of Pope Francis to have ‘a greater discernment and responsibility for contents both sent and received,’ @KatolikG supports social cohesion among Indonesians in the context of Internet-Mediated Interreligious Dialogue

Relational Interreligious Dialogue: Interdisciplinary Arguments from Creator/Creature Theology and Quantum Entanglement

Globalization, technological advances, and worldviews that perceive religious others with suspicion, all intensify society’s awareness of religious plurality and the subsequent necessity for effective interreligious dialogue. Engaging in interreligious dialogue through daily encounters, conversations, common concerns, and shared religious experiences advances religious pluralism. Nevertheless, the current state of interreligious dialogue is at an impasse; its existing substantive ontological approaches introduce, perpetuate, or worsen challenges of hegemony, elitism, and marginalization, as well as tensions between the diametric goals of religious unity versus unique religious identity. Substantive ontological models emphasize religious autonomy instead of any relational connections between religious traditions. These prevalent methods hinder effective interreligious dialogue. In response, this project proposes relational ontology as a constructive method to address existing issues within interreligious dialogue. Relational ontology asserts that reality is being as being–in–relation. By employing relational ontology, interreligious dialogue participants recognize their fundamental interconnected unity while respecting each religious tradition’s particularity. Moreover, relationality assists in neutralizing power inequalities and marginalization. To illustrate relational ontology and explain its advantages for interreligious dialogue, this project evaluates the models of quantum entanglement and Christianity’s Creator/creation relationship. Placing interdisciplinary perspectives from science and religion in dialogue essentially instantiates the project’s methodology, it validates relational ontology as an effective method for improving the effectiveness of interreligious dialogue

Interreligious Dialogue Groups Enabling Human Agency

Evidence has shown that interreligious dialogue is one of the paths to build bridges among diverse cultural and religious communities that otherwise would be in conflict. Some literature reflects, from a normative standpoint, on how interreligious dialogue should be authentic and meaningful. However, there is scarce literature on what conditions contribute to this dialogue achieving its desirable goals. Thus, our aim was to examine such conditions and provide evidence of how interreligious dialogue enables human agency. By analyzing the activity of interreligious dialogue groups, we document the human agency they generate, and we gather evidence about the features of the conditions. For this purpose, we studied four interreligious dialogue groups, all affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Association for Interreligious Dialogue (AUDIR), employing in-depth interviews and discussion groups. In these groups, which operate in diverse and multicultural neighborhoods, local actors and neighbors hold dialogues about diversity issues. In so doing, social coexistence, friendship ties, and advocacy initiatives arise. After analyzing the collected data, we conclude that for interreligious dialogue to result in positive and promising outputs, it must meet some principles of dialogic learning, namely equality of differences, egalitarian dialogue, cultural intelligence, solidarity, and transformatio

Book Review: \u3ci\u3eThe Problem with Interreligious Dialogue: Plurality, Conflict, and Elitism in Hindu-Christian-Muslim Relations\u3c/i\u3e

Book review of The Problem with Interreligious Dialogue: Plurality, Conflict, and Elitism in Hindu-Christian-Muslim Relations. By Muthuraj Swamy. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016, xvi + 230 pages

Book Review: The Past, Present, and Future of Theologies of Interreligious Dialogue

Book review of The Past, Present, and Future of Theologies of Interreligious Dialogue. Edited by Terrence Merrigan & John Friday. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, xi + 259 pages

Book Review: \u3ci\u3eRitual Participation and Interreligious Dialogue: Boundaries, Transgressions and Innovations\u3c/i\u3e

Book review of Ritual Participation and Interreligious Dialogue: Boundaries, Transgressions and Innovations. Edited by Marianne Moyaert and Joris Geldhof. London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2015. ix + 262 pages

Mission Impossible? : Pope Benedict XVI and Interreligious Dialogue

There exist very different accounts about the attitude of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI to interreligious dialogue. Does interreligious dialogue aim at truth and intertwine with mission, or is it an impossibility that needs to be replaced with an intercultural dialogue about peaceful coexistence and common values? This article traces the complex history and relationship of these views from the 1990s, through the much-misunderstood letter to Marcello Pera in 2008, until Benedict's retirement. Despite impressions to the contrary, Pope Benedict XVI's commitment to interreligious dialogue remains firm.Peer reviewe

Interreligious Dialogue in the Thought of Benedict XVI: Ecclesiological Foundations and Distinctive Characteristics

Since the Second Vatican Council, Catholic teaching has placed great emphasis on in interreligious dialogue as an integral aspect of the Church’s mission. However there remains a tension between interreligious dialogue and the church’s duty of proclaiming the gospel that constantly calls for clarification. By articulating the ecclesiological foundations of interreligious dialogue, Benedict XVI has significantly contributed to clarify the Catholic understanding of its nature and characteristics, and also suggested concrete ways in which Christians and the followers of other religions are called to engage in constructive dialogue for the good of the whole of humanity