The author with Pope Francis on October 18, 2017
Pope Francis and Interreligious Dialogue:
A Hindu Appreciation
In October 2017, I participated in the annual meeting of Religions for Peace. The participants included leaders from the world’s religions, philanthropists, government representatives, and foundations committed to interreligious cooperation for the common good. Held in Rome, the general theme of the meeting was “Advancing a Moral Alliance Among the World’s Religions for an Integral Ecology.” The theme was inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), calling for dialogue and cooperation in addressing the urgent problems of environmental degradation and global warming.
During this meeting, our group had a special audience with Pope Francis. I will not forget his firm grasp when he shook my hand, and the soft, warm, and loving look when our eyes met. I knew I was in the presence of a being embodying goodness, recognized in my tradition as a sant.
In his remarks to us, the Pope emphasized the need for interreligious cooperation “to oppose violent conflicts, to advance sustainable development, and to protect the earth.” He spoke of the special obligation of the world’s religions, with their spiritual and moral resources, to be peace-builders, and he condemned those who justify and engage in acts of violence in the name of religion. Religions, said Pope Francis, “are bound by their very nature to promote peace through justice, fraternity, disarmament, and care for creation.”
The theme of interreligious dialogue and cooperation in the pursuit of peace, justice, and sustainable development is one that resonated consistently in the speeches and writings of Pope Francis. Such cooperation, the Pope emphasized, must be grounded in relationships of friendship and mutual respect between persons of different traditions. In diverse communities, interreligious cooperation is a necessity for the service of the common good. Echoing the Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Küng’s now famous words: “There will be no peace among the nations, without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue between the religions,” Pope Francis commended dialogue as indispensable for peace through understanding, concord, and harmony. He likened it to “a net of peace that protects the world and especially protects the weakest members.”
I want to lift up four significant themes in the Pope’s lectures and writing on dialogue that I appreciate from my own place of commitment as a Hindu and a practitioner of dialogue.
First, interreligious dialogue does not mean renouncing one’s own identity or compromising one’s faith. In the words of the Pope, “true openness involves remaining steadfast in one’s deepest conviction . . . clear and joyful in one’s identity. “We cannot,” says Pope Francis, “engage in real dialogue unless we are conscious of our own identity. We can’t dialogue, we can’t start dialoguing from nothing, from zero, from a foggy sense of who we are.” Although many practitioners see dialogue as enlarging and enriching one’s understanding of one’s own tradition and the traditions of one’s neighbors, the Pope’s words are an important reminder that dialogue does not demand that we leave our deep commitments at the door.
Second, interreligious dialogue requires that we cultivate the ability to enter the other’s heart, “to put ourselves in their shoes, to understand and grasp their deepest concerns.” It is an exercise in love and empathetic understanding. In the words of the Pope, “When we love someone, or when we feel loved by them, we can better understand what they are trying to communicate.” I find his words on this requirement of dialogue powerful and challenging. “We are challenged to listen not only to the words which others speak but to the unspoken communication of their experiences, their hopes and aspirations, their struggles, and their deepest concerns. Such empathy must be the fruit of our spiritual insight and personal experience, which lead us to see others as brothers and sisters and to ‘hear’ in and beyond their words and actions what their hearts wish to communicate.” For Pope Francis, interreligious dialogue was a meeting of both the head and the heart.
Third, interreligious dialogue does not aim to overcome diversity. The Pope is opposed to all efforts aimed at “rigid uniformity.” The unity that he espouses is one that is built “on the basis of our diversity of languages, cultures, and religions” and commends “a diversity accepted and reconciled.” Diversity ought not to be perceived as a threat but as a resource and opportunity for growth.” In dialogue, says Pope Francis, “we learn to accept others and their different ways of living, thinking, and speaking. We can then join with one another in taking up the duty of serving justice and peace, which should become the basic principle of all our exchanges.” The Pope does not problematize diversity or describe it as a reality to be overcome by religious homogeneity.
Fourth, interreligious dialogue finds its most important purpose and fulfillment in interreligious cooperation for peace; in overcoming poverty, hunger, violence, and moral decay; in addressing our environmental crisis; and in the pursuit of justice. On this point Pope Francis finds common ground with the great Hindu teacher, Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda was scathing in his criticism of his fellow Hindus for their indifference to and exploitation of the poor. In a letter to his disciple, Alasinga Perumal (20 August 1893), Vivekananda lamented, “No religion on earth preaches the dignity of humanity in such a lofty strain as Hinduism, and no religion on earth treads upon the necks of the poor and the low in such a fashion as Hinduism.” Swami Vivekananda also felt that, in his time, there was an exaggerated Christian emphasis on conversion that caused a neglect of responsibilities to the poor.
It is my fervent hope that Pope Francis’ legacy of a dialogue of commitment, a dialogue that is a meeting place of head and heart, a dialogue that welcomes diversity, and a dialogue that is committed to overcoming poverty, injustice, and violence will find passionate support and continuity in his successor.
