Global revival in religious interest prompts interfaith dialogue

Published: 2008-05-28

LONDON (CNS) -- A global revival in religious interest has made interfaith dialogue one of the great projects of the Catholic Church in the 21st century, a Vatican cardinal said. "Today, one cannot understand the world without religions," said French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The cardinal, in a May 27 lecture at Heythrop College, the Jesuit-run philosophy and theology college of the University of London, noted that since God is "reappearing in public discourse today" interreligious dialogue is an unavoidable commitment for Catholics. "Newsstands are full of books and magazines on religious subjects, esotericism and the new religions," he said during his speech titled "Interreligious Dialogue -- A Risk or an Opportunity?" The cardinal noted that people in modern society are "once again asking themselves the essential questions on the meaning of life and death, on the meaning of history and of the consequences that amazing scientific discoveries might bring in their wake."

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