Posted on 04/07/2005 8:35:48 PM PDT by 1 spark
Kasper's case – that is, the case of a Church leader always classified as progressivist who today is criticizing this progressivism – is not unique. A stir was made by a recent interview with the superior general of the Jesuits, Peter Hans Kolvenbach, on what is perhaps the most controversial topic of the pontificate of John Paul II: that of dialogue between the Catholic Church and the other religions.
Father Kolvenbach is neither a bishop nor a cardinal, but he is considered – in part because of the religious order he directs – one of the most representative exponents of the left wing of the Church.
But even he is reversing course these days on the question of interreligious dialogue. He does not exclude dialogue; on the contrary, he calls for it, but above all he warns of its limits and dangers.
The Jesuits today count eight cardinals, of varying outlooks. Only three of these would participate in a conclave were one to be held soon (the others are over 80 years old) and one of these three, Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, has long been considered a candidate for the papacy emblematic of the progressivists, while another, Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is a much more likely candidate, but of a neoconservative character.
This makes what Father Kolvenbach says all the more striking: because a Jesuit really could be elected pope for the first time in the next conclave.
And it is known that the cardinal electors expect nothing else than that the future pope would perpetuate the interreligious meetings so dear to pope Karol Wojtyla, which they have spoken of as more harmful than helpful.
Here, then, is the passage of the interview with Kolvenbach relating to dialogue. The full interview, conducted by Giuseppe Rusconi, was published in issue 1, 2005, of "Il Consulente RE," a bimonthly distributed only by mail, which is sent to about 3,500 ecclesiastics and religious, published by Gruppo RE, which specializes in financial services for men and institutions of the Church:
"AN UNBRIDGEABLE GAP..."
by Peter Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
There is no lack of authoritative voices saying that a true [interreligious] dialogue has still not taken place.
Certainly, thanks to the efforts of John Paul II the religions meet with each other, sometimes coming to agreement as in Assisi to say together that no one may kill in the name of God.
But there is a continually growing awareness, to the extent to which we come to know each other's deep religious convictions, that there is an unbridgeable gap between the religions.
It's true, an unbridgeable gap. We can of course discuss civilized coexistence among the religions, but experience shows that – whether we like it or not – faith in the Most Holy Trinity is for all the religions an insurmountable obstacle to a deeper dialogue.
I repeat that this does not exclude meetings for the purpose of understanding each other better. But an awareness of the impediment makes these meetings become more honest.
Otherwise there is a risk of treating the Muslim, theologically, as if he were a Christian of another confession.
A true dialogue cannot be based upon an easy attitude of confusion in which the different religions are indistinctly mixed together, or upon an insidious relativism in which all truths are seen as equal.
Following the Church's teaching, the text of the 34th General Congregation [of the Society of Jesus] encourages a dialogue in which each participant, in accordance with his faith, makes an effort to meet the other in his religious conviction, with the sole concern of respecting the differences of his religion, yet consenting to be consulted in his search for God.
This God is one, but He is not the same according to all who believe in Him; and this God can receive in this or that religion a name that carries a sense of exclusion.
For us Christians, the fatherly love of God, which is extended without discrimination to all of humanity and to each man, prompts us to pray to God also on behalf of others, even if we cannot truly pray together.
The search for a true dialogue expresses the fact that this God has willed to have need of us in order to save all in his Son.
This difficulty of attaining a true dialogue at the level of faith does not exclude the dialogue of life, in which all men of good will meet together and help each other in turn to build a more just, peaceful, and humane world for all, according to God's desire for humanity.
Correction: Date published is 4/8/05.
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