Bishop Conry issues Pastoral Letter on relations with Muslims during Ramadan

Bishop Conry

During the Muslim holy season of Ramadan, Bishop Kieran Conry has written a Pastoral Letter to be read over the weekend 20th - 21st July in all churches in the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton which covers Surrey and Sussex highlighting the teaching of the Church on our relations with other religions, but especially with Muslims.

Bishop Conry refers to the documents from the Second Vatican Council of the Church held in 1960s and in particular to Nostra Aetate (In Our Age) issued in 1965. Concerned with other religions it said "The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions."

The document points out in regard to Muslims that "They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has also spoken to man." The text goes on to refer to the 'quarrels and dissensions' that have happened in our shared history, and then says that "The sacred Council now pleads with all to forget the past, and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve mutual understanding; for the benefit of all men, let them together preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values."

Bishop Kieran emphasises the importance of this words for our time "when latent suspicions and hostility can easily be brought to the surface again by tragic events like the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich." In such circumstances Bishop Kieran invites Catholics in Surrey and Sussex on a path of dialogue for mutual understanding between faith and peoples.

This is not a case of believing all religions are the same, but in the words of the then Cardinal Ratziner, now Pope Benedict XVI that "Quite the contrary, it stems from the conviction that truth is one and universal, (and) that there are glimpses of that one truth and supreme good in other religions."

He urges the Catholic community to enter into that dialogue with the Muslim community saying "This dialogue is not just a dialogue of charity - it is not long ago that the Catholic community was largely immigrant, misunderstood and the victim of prejudice and bigotry - it is also a dialogue of hope, hope and trust in God who
wills all people to be saved and who, in Christ and the Holy Spirit, is already at work in all that is true and holy in other religions."

For more information see: www.dabnet.org