(Photo credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media – Pope Leo XIV greets Buddhist monks )
Although I grew up in a Sicilian, Roman Catholic family, because I was raised by a single mom who was a flower child hippie feminist of the 1960s, I was encouraged to explore and learn about the world’s other faiths, or lack thereof, as well. My mother lived by a mixed version of Catholicism and Native American spirituality to form her own way of connecting with God/the Universe/Creator/Higher Power.
I learned about meditation and yoga from my mom’s friend’s mother, who taught this practice in her children’s gymnastics class. Where we lived, I had friends and neighbors who practiced Hinduism and Buddhism. Since my mom was a huge Beatles fan, she was especially open-minded to Eastern faiths and practices.
My mom took me to that same friend’s husband’s Pentecostal church on a couple of occasions to support her friend and her family. During one service, a woman threw herself off the balcony screaming, “Save me, Jesus!” That was the last time we went there.
However, as I became a teenager, one of my best friends went to a similar church, and we had fun in the teen group. Through this experience, I learned how to read the Bible and pray more prayers, in addition to the traditional prayers I had learned in my Catholic faith.
Additionally, when I was a young child, a bus from the local Baptist church would pick up neighborhood kids for Bible study on Wednesdays. My mom encouraged me to go and be open-minded. We had a lot of fun learning Bible verses and songs. My favorite part of their weekly services was how we got to pick out of the “treasure chest”. In fact, I still have one of the treasures in my home today. It is a wooden plaque with a special Bible verse engraved into it with a glossy finish.
In fourth grade, I decided I wanted to drop out of catechism, and my mom allowed it – she did not force me to do otherwise, nor did she shove religion of any kind “down my throat”. Because of this, when I became a parent, I was naturally drawn back to my childhood faith as a Roman Catholic, where I taught catechism for eight years in my sons’ catechism programs.
During these years, I did the following:
- Made the sacrament of confirmation in the adult faith formation program
- Christened my sons when they were babies
- Participated in the Interfaith practices of our Parish, where we learned more and worked with others in our community who are of the Islamic and Jewish faiths
- Placed Catholic business ads in the last two pages in our Parish’s newsletter for our family’s landscape contractor company
- Took catechism teaching workshops
- Encouraged my sons to make the sacrament of reconciliation and first communion, which they did when they were eight years old
- My oldest son made the sacrament of confirmation in the ninth grade
- Volunteered as a faith formation adult facilitator for the confirmation group of teens that my oldest son was a part of
- Became a certified trusted adult through the “Protecting God’s Children” program
According to interfaith experts at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace in their mission of Exploring Differences, Deepening Faith, they state that, “It encapsulates the idea that I deepen my own faith when I explain it to someone of a different faith. In a multireligious classroom, for example, I may be asked to articulate why I believe what I believe or live as I do, and that exploration often doesn’t happen when we only talk about religion with people who share the same values, practices, or beliefs.
The “exploring differences” part is key as well. When I learn about how Hindus approach the end of life or why Buddhists seek a state of enlightenment, I’m expanding my knowledge of the world. I’m becoming more empathetic and understanding, and I can better process the complex history of religious conflicts and participate effectively in efforts to resolve them. The goal is not to change my own views. In fact, I might see anew how important my own views on something are, understanding them better,”.
What are the strengths of interfaith dialogue?
When I attended the University of Michigan as an older student in my late twenties, I chose to attend the Dearborn campus for my coursework, as it offered more night classes for working adults like myself.
During that time, the 9/11 twin towers attack in New York happened on a day I had classes. It was so important that we students kept an open dialogue about faith, as our fellow students of the Islamic faith were extremely frightened that they would be targeted. If you do not know, in Dearborn, Michigan, we have a very large population of Arabic people who are from many faiths, such as Muslim, Chaldean (Catholic), and Jewish.
How does interfaith dialogue improve social harmony?
Most notably, interfaith dialogue improves social harmony because it serves as a bridge to reduce prejudices, correct misconceptions, and foster trust among religious communities. Furthermore, it cultivates a culture of peace by promoting shared values, empathy, and respect for diversity.
At the University of Michigan-Dearborn, I not only learned more about Islam and Judaism from my fellow Arabic students, but I also took multiple sociology courses that covered many of the world’s religions, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Native American spirituality, and the perspectives of atheists and agnostics.
Hartford goes on to note something I feel is a key factor in why interfaith dialogue is also important , “If we stop talking, there is no hope of resolution. If we keep talking, there is. It’s as simple as that, though to be honest, it’s not simple at all. It takes determination and courage, and it takes opportunity. There aren’t many places where people of different religious perspectives regularly come together to practice the skills of dialogue, and there are fewer institutions of higher education that focus on it,”.
The Catholic Review further stresses this important interfaith dialogue by quoting The Pope who recently said, “Working together and free from ideological and political conditioning we can be effective in saying ‘no’ to war and ‘yes’ to peace, ‘no’ to the arms race and ‘yes’ to disarmament, ‘no’ to an economy that impoverishes peoples and the Earth and ‘yes’ to integral development.
Pope Leo had special words of gratitude for the Jewish and Muslim representatives and pledged to continue the dialogue that began with their communities 60 years ago with the publication of the Second Vatican Council’s document, “Nostra Aetate,” on relations with other religions,”.
Why is interfaith dialogue important
In conclusion, I have learned that interfaith dialogue is essential because it is often the extremists, regardless of the practice, who tarnish the reputation of everyone involved. But you know what I learned is at the root of most of these practices, including atheism? Treat others how you would like to be treated and, love one another.
Love is at the core of it all!
Peace, shalom, salam, nirvana, hépíng, however you say it – may peace be with you and many blessings upon your life ~