This past week has served as a reminder that we are all spiritual servants. Just as we must meet our physiological needs, we also have spiritual needs that require attention. Humans have a need to connect with transcendence in order to understand themselves. Nevertheless, each person has their own way of reaching these goals, which allows for religious plurality and several understandings of God.
Since each individual expresses their connection with divinity uniquely, dialogue elements are essential to maintain harmony and enable respectful coexistence. Agnostics, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and all other religious groups should dedicate themselves to dialogue for the benefit of all humanity. Dialogue is a responsibility for everyone to foster love and bring love into the world. Let's collaborate to create a better world where love, peace, and justice prevail.
However, which kind of dialogue is necessary to achieve these goals? We recognize four distinct levels of dialogue: life, action, theological change, and spiritual exchange. All practices of religiosity should begin with the experience of commitment toward goodness, for respect of human dignity, value and faith. This dialogue-inspired experience can manifest as care, fostering fraternity as Pope Francis encourages in his encyclical Fratelli tutti, emphasizing the importance of building bridges rather than walls. We are all brothers and sisters, and we can collaborate to proclaim the gospel through our actions and as witnesses (cf. Saint Francis of Assisi).
As witnesses of the gospel, we are called to participate in dialogue, which is possible when we take time to learn about others' faith practices. This way enables us to know the others concretely and engage in the process of sharing together the responsibility to build bridges and peace in the world. We don’t need to change others; we only strive to become a better version of ourselves, in line with our faith practices.
Dialogue engages responsibility to learn about the other. It is a process that involves engaging with others, fostering interfaith dialogue, and sharing perspectives. For this reason, our tours this week were generally a process of encountering other religions.
The initial encounter was with Judaism, the religion regarded as the precursor to Christianity. The visit to the Roman Jewish Ghetto, the Synagogue of Rome and the Museum was exceptional. We learn about the diverse centuries of Jewish history in Rome. The relationship between the Popes and the Jewish community was especially put on display. The guide focuses his speech on the effort that Jews and Christians in the process of dialogue pass through diverse historical levels. The first level was marked by persecution when Pope Paul IV, in 1555, published the papal bull, Cum nimis absurdum, where he confined the Jews in an unhealthy neighbourhood. During this time, Jewish people were authorized to engage in only two commercial activities: the second-hand clothing trade and moneylending. This situation was even worse during the Second World War, when the Germans confiscated all the wealth that the Jews possessed in the large synagogue, which contained five micro synagogues, because at that time they were only allowed to have one synagogue. However, the relationship between Jews and Christians has improved after the Second Vatican Council and John Paul II, who was the first pope to visit a large synagogue officially in 1986, when he called the Jews “older brother”.
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| Foundation Museum of the Shoah in Rome |
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| The Great Synagogue in Rome |
Besides visiting the synagogue, we explored the Islamic centre and the mosque. This experience was educational, as it helped us understand the historical background of Islam, their spiritual practices, and the architecture of this prominent mosque, particularly through the significance of the five pillars.
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| The Great Mosque of Rome |
In conclusion, we engage in various ecumenical activities such as prayer and shared meals. An additional activity enhanced the course in Rome: we took part in a meal arranged jointly by the Canadian and Connecticut groups. This moment was amazing!
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| Canadian and Connecticut Group Sharing Supper |
This week’s learning, through his goals, aims to convince everyone that, regardless of our beliefs, we are all “spiritual servants”. We are called to share the common good by respecting dignity, value, and faith.
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