November 27, 2008

Pope believes interreligious dialogue must consider cultural concerns

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Interreligious dialogue can and must be about the cultural consequences of one's faith, not about the basic fundamentals of one's religious convictions, Pope Benedict XVI said. True interreligious dialogue "is not possible without putting one's own faith in parentheses," he said in a forward to an upcoming book by an Italian politician. Instead, dialogue that discusses "the cultural consequences" of one's religious beliefs and allows for "mutual correction and reciprocal enrichment" is "possible and necessary," the pope wrote in a private letter to Marcello Pera, a philosophy professor, politician and former president of the Italian senate. Pera has now published the letter as a forward to his forthcoming book, "Why We Must Call Ourselves Christians." The undated letter detailed the pope's positive appraisal of and reaction to Pera's new book.