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Nostra Aetate today: a new era of interreligious relationships - Page 1 |
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07.11.05 |
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Página 1 de 6
Educational Initiatives
Introduction:
It must have been between 1960 and ‘65 that our foundress, Juliet Hollister, came to Rome to secure the support of His Holiness Paul VI as a Founding Friend of the Temple of Understanding.
As we reflect on the history of Nostra Aetate, I am pleased to realize that the Temple of Understanding’s own history covers a similar time period.
 Joan Kirby rscj at the Villa Lante, Rome
Our goals have been similar, though expressed differently as the Temple has moved from Spiritual and Religious Summits offering dialogue to Leaders of multiple traditions to our present focus on Interfaith Education. Interfaith relationships are essential for our world but it is education that will change the world. This is our vision for the future. The Temple of Understanding (TOU) plays a modest but important part in this great endeavor.
When I spoke of Interfaith 12 years ago, only a very few responded with knowledge or even interest. In the early years, I was invited to speak at a Conference on The Limits of Tolerance. How far are we to go to accommodate other religions? I told a story from my personal experience that clarified my position at the time. When I was the Director of Homes for the Homeless, we had purchased a very large former hotel in Queens and we had a long debate about whether we should build a fence around the property. What was the purpose of the fence? Were we trying to keep our homeless families inside the perimeters of the Interfaith Family Inn? Or were afraid of the neighbors and visitors who would invade, destroy or just change the environment we carefully planned for homeless families. We finally decided that for the safety of the children it was good to build a protective fence and that it was not a bad idea to exclude those who did not respect the spirit of the Family Inn. But, on the other hand, we made sure that access in and out was freely available. We wanted the interchange with the world beyond homelessness. This was an apt metaphor for the inter-religious dialogue I was beginning. I have gained a deeper and wider understanding but much of the wisdom of those early years still holds. We need to respect the boundaries of our own tradition while we are fully open to understand and learn about and even teach other traditions.
Awareness of the importance of interfaith relationships has crested in most extraordinary ways since that time. Today after 9/11, interest, awareness and need lead many, especially young people, to look for a deeper and broader education to understand different religious traditions.
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Última modificación ( 02.12.05 )
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