Reflection text
Inter-religious dialogue
Vatican II’s teaching on other religions has enormous implications for understanding the mission of the Church. The Church and all its members are called to participate in a generous movement of love which comes from God and of which the Spirit of God is the principal actor, this Spirit who is present and active among all peoples, in and through their religions and cultures.
As participants in God’s mission, Gospel missionaries never begin with a blank slate. On the contrary, they encounter human beings and a world in which God’s Spirit is already at work. God is everywhere before them. To dialogue with other religions is to enter into the mystery of a God whose love embraces the world and all its inhabitants.
Dialogue means looking, contemplating, discerning, listening, learning, and collaborating. Engaging in the open world of dialogue in this way does in no way mean sidelining, let alone abandoning, our fundamental convictions as followers of Christ. Being open to partners in dialogue does not imply renouncing our beliefs.
What is essential in interreligious dialogue is that one is prepared to listen to the other, to allow oneself to be challenged by the other, and to believe and hope that through this dialogue we can come to a more adequate understanding of the other’s faith and of one’s own faith too.
Father Philippe Goupille
« Le christianisme et le dialogue inter religieux »
dans Le dialogue interreligieux au sein des religions, p. 52.
Father Philippe Goupille is a Roman Catholic priest in Mauritius, and one of the founding members of the Council of Religions.
Council of Religions (CoR) is an NGO that fosters understanding in our multi-cultural and Multi-ethnic Society. It aims to promote harmony and to engage in peace-building activities among all people, through training at all spheres of education – Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. Since 1994 there have been continued efforts to encourage inter-faith dialogue and coordinate religious leadership in Mauritius.
Intercessions
A “Charter of Good Understanding” was signed in Mauritius in 2010 between different Christian denominations committed to proclaiming the Word of God. The key point is to get to know each other and proclaim Christ together.
Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the Ecumenical Working Committee (EWC), which organizes an annual retreat and various activities to move forward together and grow in visible unity between Christians of different denominations.
Mauritius has had a new government since November 2024.
Lord, we pray to You that its leaders will implement just and effective measures to free the country from afflictions such as corruption and drug trafficking. We also entrust to You the unity of Mauritius, so that everyone may live in respect for the country’s diversity and common history, marked as it is by colonization and slavery.
The mandate of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s personal representative to the Holy See, Archbishop Ian Ernest – a native Mauritian – came to an end at the end of January 2025. The Holy Father thanked the Archbishop for his dedicated service during his tenure in Rome.
Lord, we thank you for the bridges built between our Churches and for all those who work for Christian unity.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may seek to console, to understand, to love, to give, forgive, and to die to ourselves so that we might glorify you.