An article by Fr. Francis Clooney SJ in the latest Commonweal. And yes, it's actually online.
[The cover graphic, also seen online, seems to me to be more a Buddhist mandala than anything Hindu. Of course, Buddhism is started in India, but it really isn't a modern Indian religion. Maybe it's not a mandala though ... ]
I'll blog on this more later. Initially, just to say, it's good to see Cardinal Ratzinger's writings being read and analyzed and reflected upon and responded to, instead of just knee-jerked to from a "God's Rottweiler" stereotype (hey, maybe now that he's Pope, folks kinda have to pay attention? And be respectful? :)). So here, Fr. Francis Clooney, who wouldn't "subvert Hinduism and conver the unsuspecting" (geez, who would? Well, which Catholic would?), analyzes Pope Benedict's approach to interreligious dialogue in "Truth and Tolerance" , the brilliant "Many Religions One Covenant" and a few articles and CDF documents (including the infamous Dominus Iesus. It's really gotten a bad rap). It really is a thoughtful analysis, which, at least on first glance, seems to mute, somewhat, the clear call to proclaim Christ. Though again, that's just first glance, but does bring out the promotion of proper dialogue in the Pope's writings.
Truth and Tolerance" is really incredibly thought provoking. I'm going to have to get an English copy (I acquired an Italian one, and my attempts to read it were more an exercise in Italian practice than really trying to figure out what the then Cardinal was trying to say) -- one of the central ideas is that in a lot of the discussions of the salvificity of other religions, the religion itself is assumed to be homogenous and monolithic. Pope Benedict would instead, include a cultural analysis of sorts along, given the close interconnection between religion and culture. And, indeed, the idea that Fr. Francis highlights, that dialogue is about, has to be about, truth, and not just a modus vivendi.
Here's a money quote from the concluding paragraph of the article:
"... another mission pervades Benedict's writings. It has to do with an honest search shared by believers who already, by grace, know the truth but who also, by grace, are unafraid to look deeper and learn still more. In this dialogue, we need to say who we are, honestly and in light of our faith, but we need also to have real questions. As Benedict puts it, 'The proclamation of the gospel must be necessarily a dialogical process. We are not telling the other person something that is enitrely unknown to him.... The reverse is also the case: the one who proclaims is not only the giver; he is also the receiver; rather, we are opening up the hidden depth of something with which, in his owen religion, he is already in touch.'"(emphasis added)
As I said, more thoughts on the article later.
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