Development of the inter-religious dialogue during the pontificate of John Paul II

Po Vatikano II Susirinkimo Katalikų Bažnyčia aktyviai įsitraukė į tarpreliginį dialogą. Savo veikla ir pasisakymais tam daug įtakos turėjo pal. popiežius Jonas Paulius II. Jo pontifikato metu tarpreliginiame dialoge galima išskirti keletą esminių įvykių, suformavusių dabartinę Bažnyčios poziciją šiuo klausimu. Straipsnyje nagrinėjama šių įvykių reikšmė tarpreliginio dialogo teologinės sampratos raidai minėtu laikotarpiuSince the times of the Apostles, Christians were experiencing frequent encounters with the believers of other religions. That made it necessary for the followers of Christ to explain the relationship between Christianity and non-Christian religions. Fragments of such explanations were scattered in various Christian writings during centuries. However, it was only in the middle of the twentieth century that the Catholic Church formulated a comprehensive doctrine of inter-religious relationship. It was done by the Second Vatican Council in the declaration “Nostra aetate”. Vatican II officially declared that the Catholic Church views other religions in a positive way, as containing elements of truth that come from one God. At the same time, the Council emphasized the necessity to proclaim Jesus Christ as the fullness of Truth. After the Second Vatican Council this positive attitude was often interpreted in a way that overemphasized the value of other religions. This led to the diminished understanding of the role of Christ and the weakening of the Church’s missionary activity. In his encyclical Redemptoris mission, John Paul II described this attitude as religious relativism that is very dangerous to the Catholic faith. The spread of religious relativism became one of the main concerns for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was at that time the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A significant part of the struggle of the Catholic Church against religious relativism was the declaration Dominus Iesus promulgated in 2000. It expresses in a document form the most important truth of the Christian faith – “Jesus is the Lord”. By means of technical theological language, the declaration repeats and explains the main pronouncements of the Church’s Magisterium on the relationship between Christianity and other religions. [...]Religijos studijų katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta