What is Interfaith Dialogue?

Paul Trafford in his article An Overview of Interfaith defines, “Interfaith is a process of coming together of people committed to their respective religions and spiritual paths for the purpose of mutual understanding, appreciation and enrichment.”1 It is a process in which the dialogue has “a positive and deliberate connotation, a sense of offering space, openness and respect, thereby contrasting with e.g. a dispute or confrontation.”2 It is organized in an informal or formal, internal to oneself, between neighbors, among community groups, or in front of the large international gatherings. The word faith recognizes the fact that the participants are committed to their own faith and the objective is to enlighten each other’s faith. The history of the interfaith dialogue can be traced back to the two important global events—World Parliament of Religions (WPR) in Chicago in 1893 and th