Enchiladas make best milieu for interreligious dialogue, says Jesuit

Published: 2005-09-28

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A U.S. Jesuit theologian said the best milieu for interreligious discussions with his Buddhist friends is over a hot plate of cheese enchiladas. Jesuit Father James Fredericks, professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said people often talk of interreligious dialogue as being based on big spiritual mysteries, "like the Holy Spirit or some transcendent reality, but no, the foundations of interreligious dialogue in Los Angeles are cheese enchiladas." Sharing a meal is not only "the basis for dialogue, it's the fruit of a dialogue" that even involves the Catholic food service workers at the university's kitchens "who, in loving service, do the best job they can to cook these enchiladas for these monks from Sri Lanka," he told Catholic News Service Sept. 27. Father Fredericks was one of dozens of experts invited to speak at a Sept. 25-28 conference marking the 40th anniversary of "Nostra Aetate," the Second Vatican Council's declaration on interreligious dialogue.

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