My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This week, religious leaders gathered in Assisi to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the interreligious meeting called by Pope John Paul II in 1986. The gathering has again brought before the Church a question that reaches into the heart of our faith. When Catholics stand before the world alongside representatives of other religions, are we making clear who Jesus Christ is? Are we bearing witness to the Savior of the world, or are our words and actions allowing people to believe that faith in Him is simply one religious choice among many?
I want to speak about that question carefully and directly. Many faithful Catholics are troubled. They love the Church, they desire peace, and they want to remain faithful to what the Church has always taught. They deserve an explanation of religious indifferentism and why it endangers souls. They also deserve an honest account of what was said at Assisi, without exaggeration and without pretending that serious concerns disappear simply because a gathering is held under the banner of peace.
On October 27, Pope Leo XIV sent a recorded message to the participants. In that message, he spoke about war, prayer, fraternity, and dialogue. He called peace “the guiding star for all our choices.” He encouraged religious leaders to continue the spirit of Assisi. Yet the published text does not explicitly name Jesus Christ, the Holy Trinity, or the Blessed Virgin Mary. It refers to God and concludes with the beatitude about peacemakers, but it does not explicitly proclaim Jesus as the Savior of all mankind.
That omission deserves serious attention. A single address cannot contain every article of the faith, and an omission alone does not establish a formal denial of doctrine. Nevertheless, on an occasion when the relationship between different religions is so visibly before the world, clarity about Jesus Christ is especially necessary. My concern is what listeners are being taught, and what they may reasonably take away when the Church’s distinctive proclamation remains unspoken.
Every Christian should be grieved by war. We should pray for those whose children have been killed, whose homes have been destroyed, and whose lives have been uprooted. We should welcome serious efforts to protect the innocent and resolve conflicts. The longing for peace is good. The Church must also explain the peace she has been sent to proclaim, because her mission reaches beyond an agreement among nations or a temporary cessation of violence.
St. Paul tells us that Christ is our peace. Our Lord reconciles us to the Father through His Cross. He confronts the sin that divides us from God and wounds our relationships with one another. Christians bring this understanding to every discussion of peace. We have something essential to say about the human heart, about forgiveness, and about the grace through which enemies can become brothers. When we speak publicly about peace, the person and saving work of Jesus belong at the center of our witness.
Religious indifferentism obscures that witness. In plain language, indifferentism treats the differences between religions as ultimately unimportant. It suggests that one religion is as good as another, that sincere belief makes every religious path equally valid, or that salvation can be found through different religions independently of Jesus Christ. These ideas can sound generous. They spare us difficult disagreements. But they cannot be reconciled with the Catholic faith.
We believe that God has truly revealed Himself. He has made Himself known through His Son. Jesus Christ is God the Son made man, who suffered, died, and rose again for our salvation. Christianity rests upon this divine action and this divine revelation. If Jesus is who He says He is, then what we believe about Him matters for every person. His identity cannot be negotiated for the sake of a religious arrangement acceptable to everyone.
Consider a simple example. Catholics confess that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. A religion that denies His divinity makes a contradictory claim about Him. Both claims cannot be true in the same sense. We may speak courteously with someone who disagrees. We may appreciate that person’s generosity and learn much about that person’s life. We still have to acknowledge the disagreement. Honest conversation requires us to say what we actually believe.
Our Lord’s own words are clear. In St. John’s Gospel, He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” He continues, “No man cometh to the Father, but by me.” The Church received these words from her Lord. She has no authority to revise His identity or reduce His saving mission to one possibility among several. Every generation must hear the Gospel, and every generation of Christians must decide whether it will faithfully hand on what it has received.
This is also why the First Commandment matters in any discussion of interreligious prayer. God alone is worthy of divine worship. Our worship expresses what we believe about Him and acknowledges what we owe Him as our Creator and Lord. We cannot treat worship as a collection of interchangeable ceremonies. The meaning of a religious act matters, even when those who participate share a desire for some good result.
The Church’s concern about indifferentism long predates this week’s gathering. In 1928, Pope Pius XI warned in Mortalium Animos against attempts at religious union founded upon the assumption that religions are more or less equally good because they express a common religious instinct. His warning reaches a fundamental question: has God revealed something that we are obliged to believe? If He has, then a general religious sentiment cannot take the place of assent to what He has revealed.
That principle remains necessary today. The fact that people everywhere ask religious questions does not mean that every answer is true. Human beings can sincerely seek God while holding mistaken beliefs about Him. Sincerity deserves to be treated with respect, but sincerity by itself does not settle the truth of a belief. We understand this distinction in ordinary life. We should be willing to acknowledge it when the question concerns our eternal destiny.
The declaration Dominus Iesus, published in the year 2000, explicitly rejects the belief that “one religion is as good as another.” It affirms the unique saving mission of Jesus Christ and the essential relationship of the Church to His work of salvation. This is Catholic teaching. An interpretation of interreligious dialogue that makes the Church one interchangeable religious institution among others contradicts that teaching and should be rejected.
The Second Vatican Council must also be read honestly. Nostra Aetate recognizes elements of truth and holiness in other religions. In the same passage, it insists upon the Church’s continuing proclamation of Christ. Recognizing something true in another person’s belief does not oblige us to accept everything that person believes. Catholics can recognize goodness wherever they encounter it while confessing the fullness of revelation given in Jesus Christ.
These teachings help us assess Assisi. The first gathering took place on October 27, 1986. Representatives of different religions were invited to pray for peace according to their own traditions. From the beginning, critics raised concerns about the religious meaning of the event. They asked whether its public gestures would convey an equality among religions that Catholic doctrine could never affirm. Those questions concerned the effect of the event upon faith and worship, and they deserve to be considered on those terms.
One incident from 1986 illustrates why the concern became so serious. A Buddhist delegation placed a statue of Buddha on the altar in the Church of Saint Peter in Assisi. This incident is acknowledged even in Catholic accounts defending John Paul II, although those accounts deny that the Pope authorized the placement. We should preserve that distinction. We should also remember that this is an incident from 1986; it should not be presented as something documented at this year’s gathering.
A Catholic altar is consecrated for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Its religious meaning remains even when people using the building misunderstand or disregard it. When an altar is used in connection with a non-Christian religious rite, Catholics have reason to be deeply troubled. The consecration of a church places responsibilities upon those entrusted with it. Hospitality must respect those responsibilities and the faith expressed by the sacred place itself.
The Catechism teaches that sacrilege includes treating sacred things and places unworthily. That teaching helps explain why concern about Assisi cannot simply be dismissed as discomfort with meeting people of other religions. The question includes what belongs to God, how Catholic worship is protected, and whether sacred signs are being made to communicate something contrary to their purpose. These are serious questions for pastors and for everyone responsible for the care of churches.
At the same time, truth requires that we acknowledge what John Paul II actually said. In his concluding address in 1986, he expressly professed Jesus Christ as the Savior of all and the source of true peace. He also rejected the idea that the gathering meant negotiating religious convictions or accepting relativism. A fair criticism of Assisi must take those statements into account. We may still ask whether the arrangements and gestures communicated those stated intentions clearly enough.
Pope Benedict XVI addressed that danger in 2006, on the twentieth anniversary of the meeting. He warned that the gathering must not convey surrender to religious relativism and emphasized the need to avoid confusion. His warning recognizes that public religious actions require careful interpretation. An explanation printed in a document may reach far fewer people than a photograph or a short video. Pastors have to consider the impression made upon those who will never read the fuller explanation.
Think of a child seeing a Catholic church used for the rites of another religion. That child may naturally assume that the Church approves the religious meaning of what is taking place. Think of a young Catholic already being told that religious beliefs are merely personal preferences. A gathering of religious leaders may seem to confirm that message unless the differences are explained. We cannot assume that everyone watching possesses the knowledge needed to supply distinctions left unspoken.
That is the pastoral difficulty renewed by this fortieth anniversary. Leo’s message appeals to prayer and to God as the giver of peace. Yet its appeal to the world does not explicitly explain who Jesus Christ is or the salvation He offers. I believe that is a serious missed opportunity. At such a gathering, the Church’s witness should help people understand why she continues to call every nation to faith in Him.
Christ’s kingship also belongs in this discussion. In Quas Primas, Pope Pius XI taught that the authority of Christ concerns individuals, families, and societies. Human affairs cannot be sealed off from His moral law. Our public responsibilities include obligations to justice and to the dignity of persons created by God. Christians therefore have reason to speak about Christ when they speak about the ordering of society and the hope for peace among nations.
The reign of Christ makes demands upon us personally. A man cannot credibly confess Christ as King while excusing dishonesty in his business. A family cannot honor His authority while nurturing hatred. A public official cannot invoke religion while treating innocent life as expendable. When we speak of Christ’s kingship, we are also submitting our own conduct to His judgment. The credibility of our witness depends upon the seriousness with which we do that.
Our Lord’s kingdom also places limits upon the way we argue. We cannot promote the faith by bearing false witness. We cannot defend sacred worship through contempt for the people we hope will come to know Christ. Anger may alert us to something wrong, but it does not relieve us of the obligation to speak truthfully. Catholics should be able to express grave concern while refusing insults, reckless accusations, and judgments about another person’s eternal destiny.
Some will ask whether this teaching means that a person who has never known Christ cannot be saved. The Church teaches that those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel or the Church may attain salvation by God’s grace as they sincerely seek Him and strive to do His will. Their salvation still comes through Jesus Christ and through His Church. God’s mercy is greater than our knowledge of another person’s soul.
That teaching gives us hope for persons whose circumstances we cannot fully know. It does not establish that every religion is an equally effective means of salvation. It also does not excuse a deliberate rejection of truth once it is known. We should entrust people to God’s justice and mercy while remaining faithful to the means of grace He has given us. The possibility of God working beyond what we can see should deepen our gratitude and our missionary concern.
John Paul II addressed the relationship between dialogue and mission in Redemptoris Missio. He taught that interreligious dialogue belongs with the Church’s evangelizing mission and does not dispense her from proclaiming Christ. Listening can remove misunderstanding and prepare a person to hear the Gospel. Cooperation can open a relationship of trust. Those good fruits should serve the Church’s mission rather than become reasons to leave that mission unfinished.
Evangelization begins with the conviction that Jesus Christ is a gift for the person before us. We invite; we explain; we answer questions. We respect freedom and refuse manipulation. We pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare hearts and give us the humility to recognize our own failures. A person considering the Catholic faith should encounter Christians whose lives make the Gospel credible, and whose words are clear enough to explain what they believe.
This is where our discussion of Assisi comes home to us. We may have little influence over international meetings, but we have responsibility for the faith we hand on. Parents and grandparents, make time to speak with your children about Jesus. Explain why we go to Mass, and why the Eucharist is sacred. Help them understand the Creed they recite. Give them opportunities to ask difficult questions without fearing that their questions will be dismissed.
A young person needs more than the instruction to be kind. Kindness is necessary, and we should practice it generously. That young person also needs to know whether God has spoken, whether Christ truly rose from the dead, and whether the sacraments actually give grace. If we leave those questions unanswered, we should not be surprised when Catholic practice begins to look like an optional family custom. Faith needs instruction as well as affection.
Adults need that instruction too. We should read the Gospels, learn the Catechism, and become familiar with the Church’s teaching in its proper context. When a report about the Church troubles us, we should seek the actual words or a reliable account of the action. Then we can identify the concern accurately. This discipline protects us from minimizing a real problem and from spreading an accusation that the facts cannot sustain.
Please pray for the Pope, for bishops, and for priests. Ask Our Lord to give His shepherds courage to proclaim the whole faith and wisdom to avoid actions that confuse those entrusted to their care. Our prayers should include the grace of repentance wherever it is needed. Those who hold office in the Church need the prayers of the faithful, and we all need the humility to accept correction in the light of the Gospel.
We should pray also for those who do not yet know Christ, and for Catholics whose faith has weakened. Bring particular people before Our Lord. Ask Him to open a conversation, heal a wound, or restore confidence where the conduct of Christians has caused disappointment. Offer your own availability. Sometimes a patient explanation, an invitation to Mass, or an act of faithful friendship gives someone the opportunity to begin asking again about God.
As we approach November, this concern for souls also turns our hearts toward the faithful departed. Monday, November 2, is All Souls’ Day. Throughout the month, the Church especially encourages us to remember those who have died. Our love for them continues in prayer. We commend them to the mercy of God and ask that those undergoing purification may be brought into the joy of heaven.
The souls in purgatory have died in God’s grace and friendship. Their eternal salvation is assured, but they still need purification. The Church teaches that our prayers help them, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Please have Masses offered for your departed loved ones. Pray for deceased priests and religious, for benefactors whose kindness you remember, and for those who have no one to pray for them.
This remembrance should also move us to prepare for our own death. Make a good confession. Seek reconciliation where you have caused harm. Attend to the duties God has placed before you. Our hope rests in the mercy of Jesus Christ, who calls us to conversion and gives us the grace to respond. The Savior whom we proclaim to the nations is the Savior to whom we entrust our beloved dead.
My dear brothers and sisters, remain close to Him. Bring your concerns about the Church into prayer, and let that prayer strengthen your fidelity. Speak honestly about what troubles you. Learn the faith well enough to hand it on with confidence. Above all, allow the truth you profess to shape the way you live. Our Lord has entrusted His Gospel to the Church, and each of us has a part in bearing witness to Him.
Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for the Church and to lead us always to her Son. May Jesus Christ grant peace to those suffering from war, courage to His shepherds, and perseverance to all who seek to follow Him. May He bring the faithful departed into the light of His presence.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland
Bishop Emeritus
