Card. Cantara Mesa gave the first Advent homily, reflecting on interreligious dialogue. Pope Francis was also present to listen.
(Vatican News Network) interreligious dialogue is not in opposition to evangelization, but rather determines the means of evangelization. Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Papal Palace, gave the first homily of this year’s Advent for the heads of the dicasteries of the Holy See on December 2, in the Paul VI Hall. Pope Francis was also present listen. According to the cardinal, Jesus sent his disciples “to teach all the nations” (Mt 28:19), which undoubtedly retains its eternal validity, but must be understood in its historical context.
The cardinal explained that in the context of the time “all nations” was an expression, demonstrating the fact that Jesus’ message was not only for Israel, but also for the whole world. Jesus’ words “are always valid for all people, but for those who already practice other religions, they need to be treated with respect, patience and love”. St. Francis of Assisi understood this and put it into practice. In the “Regulations of the Council”, he proposed “two ways to contact the Arabs and other pagans”. The first is not to quarrel, but to accept “all created by God’s love” and to declare oneself a Christian. Secondly, once they “see God’s favor, proclaim the Word and make them believe in Almighty God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
From this the cardinal spoke of the practical meaning of “going to make disciples of all nations”. He said, “If faith in Christ is the faith of salvation, what about those who have no chance of believing in Him?” Today we live in a society where “religions are also pluralistic”, theology, both Eastern and Western, Catholic and Protestantism “actually only developed in a world where Christianity existed”. In the past “the existence of other religions was also known, but these religions were considered false from the beginning, or were not taken seriously”. Apart from the different ways of understanding the Church, all Christians firmly believe in the traditionally accepted truth that “Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus) is a common belief.
“It is no longer the case”, the cardinal underlined. For some time there has been “a dialogue between religions, in a spirit of mutual respect and recognition of the values inherent in each religion”. As for the Catholic Church, the Declaration of the Second Vatican Council “The attitude of the Church towards non-Christian religions” has become the starting point, and “such a policy is also the consensus of all Christian Churches in history”. With this recognition, we express our “belief that people outside the church can be saved.”
Cardinal Cantara Mesa then asked himself, in this new vision, doesn’t the traditional axiom “no salvation outside the Church” survive in the axiom “no salvation outside the faith”? In some Christian contexts, he said, Christianity is in fact “the dominant doctrine, and this becomes the motivation for missionary commitment”. However, in this way “salvation is initially limited to a few”. This not only “first distorts Christ and alienates most people from him.”
One cannot, said the cardinal, believe that “Jesus is God and confine his pre-eminence to restricted areas”. Citing the Bible, the cardinal recalled that whoever does not know Christ, but acts according to his conscience (cf. Rom 2:14-15) and does good to his neighbor (cf. Mt. In the “Acts of the Apostles”, Peter also affirms that “God he is not respectful, and all men who fear him and practice justice are pleasing to him” (10:34-35).
Furthermore, in general, people of other religions “believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (cf. Heb. statement). This was especially true of our Jewish brethren, who believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the same God we Christians believe in, who “has ways of redemption beyond our imagination. He has established his own ‘channels’ of grace, but he did not bind himself to them”. One of the excellent channels of salvation is “suffering”.
Suffering, in its own way, became the universal sacrament of salvation after Christ “took it upon himself and redeemed it”. “Sufferings of all kinds, not just those of Christians, somehow ‘make up beautifully what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ'” (Colossians 1:24). Therefore, “the Church celebrates the martyrdom of holy children, even if they did not know that they were suffering for Christ!” Having said that, the cardinal said, “we believe that all those who are saved are saved through the merits of Christ”. It is therefore “necessary” to continue to “preach the Gospel to everyone”.
Cardinal Cantara Mesa concludes that the motivation for evangelization “should change, but not the fact.” In this vision, it is necessary “to continue to proclaim Christ, but not for a negative reason, that is: if the Gospel is not preached, the world will be condemned; but for a positive reason, that is, for everyone Jesus is an incomparable grace”.
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