Declaration on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions.


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Declaration

on the

Relation

of the

Church to

Non-Christian

Religions





Declaration on the

Relation of the Church

to Non-Christian Religions

This booklet is the text of an English translation relayed from Vatican

City to the Press Department of the National Catholic Welfare Con-

ference, Washington, D.C.

PRINTED IN TEIE U.S.A.
BY OUR SUNDAY VISITOR INC.
HUNTINGTON, INDIANA 46750

90





Declaration on the

Relation of the Church

to Non-Christian Religions

HOLLOWING is an English trranslation of the text of the
Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relation of

the Church to non-Christian
Paul VI on Oct. 28, 1965.

1. In our time, when day by
day mankind is being drawn
closer together, and the ties be-
tween different Peoples are be-
coming stronger, the Church
examines more closely her rela-
tionship to non-Christian reli-
gions. In her task of promoting
unity and love among men, in-
deed among nations, she consid-
ers above all in this declaration
what men have in common and
what draws them to fellowship.
One is the community of all

peoples, one their origin,
for God made the whole hu-
man race to live over the face
of the earth. One also is their
final goal, God. His providence,
His manifestations of goodness,
His saving design extend to all
men, until that time when the
elect will be united in the Holy
City, the city ablaze with the
glory of God, where the nations
will walk in His light.

religions, proclaimed by Pope

Men expect from the various
religions answers to the unsolv-
ed riddles of the human condi-
tion, which today, even as in
former times, deeply stir the
hearts of men: What is man?
What is the meaning, the aim
of our life? What is moral good,
what sin? Whence suffering and
what purpose does it serve?
Which is the road to true happi-
ness? What are death, judgment
and retribution after death?
What, finally, is that ultimate
inexpressible mystery which
encompasses our existence:
whence do we come, and where
are we going?

2. From ancient times down
to the present, there is found
among various peoples a certain
perception of that hidden power
which hovers over the course of
things and over the events of
human history; at times some
indeed have come to the recog-

3



nition of a Supreme Being, or
even of a Father. This percep-
tion and recognition penetrates
their lives with a profound re-
ligious sense.

Religions, however, that are
bound up with an advanced cul-
ture have struggled to answer
the same questions by means of
more refined concepts and a
more developed language. Thus
in Hinduism, men contemplate
the divine mystery and express
it through an inexhaustible
abundance of myths and
through searching philosophical
inquiry. They seek freedom
from the anguish of our human
condition either through asce-
tical practices or profound med-
itation or a flight to God with
love and trust. Again, Bud-
dhism, in its various forms, rea-
lizes the radical insufficiency of

this changeable world; it teach-
es a way by which men, in a
devout and confident spirit,
may be able either to acquire
the state of perfect liberation,

or attain, by their own efforts
or through higher help, su-
preme illumination. Likewise,
other religions found every-
where try to counter the rest-
lessness of the human heart,
each in its own manner, by pro-
posing “ways,” comprising
teachings, rules of life, and sa-
cred rites.
The Catholic Church rejects

nothing that is true and holy in
these religions. She regards with
sincere reverence those ways of
conduct and of life, those pre-

cepts and teachings which,
though differing in many as-
pects from the ones she holds
and sets forth, nonetheless often
reflect a ray of that Truth which
enlightens all men. Indeed, she
proclaims, and ever must pro-
claim Christ, “the way, the
truth, and the life” (John 14:

6), in whom men may find the
fullness of religious life, in

whom God has reconciled all
things to Himself.

The Church, therefore, ex-
horts her sons, that through di-
alogue and collaboration with
the followers of other religions,

carried out with prudence and
love and in witness to the Chris-
tian faith and life, they recog-
nize, preserve and promote the
good things, spiritual and mor-
al, as well as the socio-cultural

values found among these men.
3. The Church regards with

esteem also the Moslems. They
adore the one God, living and
subsisting in Himself, merciful

and all-powerful, the Creator of
heaven and earth, who has spo-
ken to men; they take pains to
submit wholeheartedly to even
His inscrutable decrees, just as

Abraham, with whom the faith
of Islam takes pleasure in link-
ing itself, submitted to God.
Though they do not acknowl-
edge Jesus as God, they revere
Him as a prophet. They also
honor Mary, His virgin mother;
at times they even call on her
with devotion. In addition, they
await the day of judgment when
God will render their deserts to

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all those who have been raised
up from the dead. Finally, they
value the moral life and wor-
ship God especially through
prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centu-

ries not a few quarrels and hos-
tilities have arisen between
Christians and Moslems, this
sacred synod urges all to forget
the past and to work sincerely
for mutual understanding and
to preserve as well as to pro-

mote together for the benefit of
all mankind social justice and
moral welfare, as well as peace
and freedom.

4. As the sacred synod sear-
ches into the mystery of the
Church, it remembers the bond
that spiritually ties the people

of the New Covenant to Abra-
ham’s stock.
Thus the Church of Christ ac-

knowledges that, according to
God’s saving design, the begin-
nings of her faith and her elec-
tion are found already among
the Patriarchs, Moses and the
prophets. She professes that all
who believe in Christ — Abra-
ham’s sons according to faith

—

are included in the same Patri-
arch’s call, and likewise that
the salvation of the Church is
mysteriously foreshadowed by
the chosen people’s exodus from
the land of bondage. The
Church, therefore, cannot for-
get that she received the reve-
lation of the Old Testament
through the people with whom
God in His inexpressible mercy
concluded the Ancient Cove-

nant. Nor can she forget that
she draws sustenance from the
root of that well-cultivated ol-

ive tree onto which have been
grafted the wild shoots, the
Gentiles. Indeed, the Church be-
lieves that by His cross Christ
Our Peace reconciled Jews and
Gentiles, making both one in
Himself.

The Church keeps ever in
mind the words of the Apostle
about his kinsmen: “Theirs is
the sonship and the glory and
the covenants and the law and
the worship and the promises;
theirs are the fathers and from
them is the Christ according to
the flesh” (Rom. 9:4-5), the
Son of the Virgin Mary. She al-
so recalls that the Apostles, the

Church’s main-stay and pillars,
as well as most of the early dis-
ciples who proclaimed Christ’s
Gospel to the world, sprang
from the Jewish people.
As Holy Scripture testifies,

Jerusalem did not recognize
the time of her visitation, nor
did the Jews, in large number,
accept the Gospel; indeed not a
few opposed its spreading.
Nevertheless, God holds the
Jews most dear for the sake of
their Fathers; He does not re-
pent of the gifts He makes or of
the calls He issues — such is
the witness of the Apostle. In
company with the Prophets and
the same Apostle, the Church
awaits that day, known to God
alone, on which all peoples will
address the Lord in a single
voice and “serve him shoulder

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to shoulder” (Soph. 3:9).
Since the spiritual patrimony

common to Christians and Jews
is thus so great, this sacred sy-
nod wants to foster and recom-
mend that mutual understand-
ing and respect which is the
fruit, above all, of biblical and
theological studies as well as of
fraternal dialogues.

True, the Jewish authorities
and those who followed their
lead pressed for the death of
Christ; still, what happened in
His passion cannot be charged
against all the Jews, without
distinction, then alive, nor
against the Jews of today. Al-
though the Church is the new
people of God, the Jews should
not be presented as rejected or
accursed by God, as if this fol-
lowed from the Holy Scriptures.
All should see to it, then, that
in catechetical work or in the
preaching of the word of God
they do not teach anything that
does not conform to the truth
of the Gospel and the spirit of
Christ.

Furthermore, in her rejection
of every persecution against any
man, the Church, mindful of the
patrimony she shares with the
Jews and moved not by political
reasons but by the Gospel’s spir-
itual love, decries hatred, per-

secutions, displays of anti-Sem-
itism, directed against Jews at
any time and by anyone.

Besides, as the Church has al-
ways held and holds now, Christ
underwent His passion and

death freely, because of the sins
of men and out of infinite love,
in order that all may reach
salvation. It is, therefore, the

burden of the Church’s preach-
ing to proclaim the cross of
Christ as the sign of God’s all-
embracing love and as the foun-
tain from which every grace
flows.

5. We cannot truly call on
God, the Father of all, if we re-
fuse to treat in a brotherly way
any man, created as he is in the
image of God. Man’s relation to
God the Father and his relation
to men his brothers are so link-
ed together that Scripture says:
“He who does not love does not
know God” (1 John 4:8).
No foundation therefore re-

mains for any theory or prac-
tice that leads to discrimination

between man and man or peo-
ple and people, so far as their
human dignity and the rights
flowing from it are concerned.
The Church reproves, as for-

eign to the mind of Christ, any
discrimination against men or
harrassment of them because of
their race, color, condition of

life, or religion. On the contrary,
following in the footsteps of the
holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
this sacred synod ardently im-
plores the Christian faithful to

“maintain good fellowship
among the nations” (1 Peter 2:
12), and if possible, to live for
their part in peace with all men,
so that they may truly be sons
of the Father who is in heaven.

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