INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE FROM OUR EXPERIENCE OF GOD

Abstract

Already in 1965, Pope Paul VI had drawn up a living itinerary for interreligious encounters, in which the Church’s responsible testimony begins by recognizing “with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.”1 My experience in meeting devoted persons — whether Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, Muslim or Christian — has taught me that experience of God’s presence is, indeed, universal. Sharing personal challenges and aspirations toward mystical union with the Absolute has always impressed me with deep peace, inner hope, awareness of the need for purification, and an enlightened view toward the future.