ASIA - The Church in Asia and paths of dialogue: FABC seminar

Bangkok (Agenzia Fides) – Dialogue, in all its forms, is for the Church in Asia a fruitful road to evangelization. This is the principle at the heart of reflection and discussion for the seminar being organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), which opens tomorrow, July 21, in Bangkok and lasts until July 25. The forum, entitled “The Church's Called to Dialogue: Special Role of Bishops” is being organized by the FABC-Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and is a seminar for bishops responsible for interreligious dialogue within the Asian bishops' conferences and other interested bishops, experts, theologians, and persons working in the area of dialogue.
The seminar is an opportunity for reflection, discussion, and deeper penetration into the reasons and forms of interreligious dialogue, which began in the FABC over 20 years ago. The source of inspiration for the sessions is taken from a passage from Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris Missio, number 55: “Inter-religious dialogue is a part of the Church's evangelizing mission...These two elements must maintain both their intimate connection and their distinctiveness; therefore they should not be confused, manipulated or regarded as identical, as though they were interchangeable.”
Among the priorities of the forum is that of encouraging a more active collaboration with religious communities of other faiths, to increase understanding and openness.
The seminar will reflect on the dual dimension of interreligious dialogue: dialogue as a dimension of mission (and therefore, with reference to the Gospel message); practical dialogue with believers of various religion, who live together in society, a public multi-religious area,as a concrete example of collaboration for the creation of a more just, free, and fraternal society.
The collaboration for the defense and promotion of common human and spiritual values – the preparatory document of the Forum says – is the base from which experiences of dialogue among religions in Asia, from which a reciprocal and effective understanding and knowledge can come, a\ware of the need to overcome prejudices that are the root cause of divisions and conflicts.
The Christians can offer a unique contribution to interreligious dialogue, without denying or watering-down their own profession of faith and membership to the Church. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 20/7/2009)