|
|
|
|
|
Home > Feature articles > Article
|
Go back |
|
Christianity, Islam and secular Australia
CARDINAL CASSIDY’S ADDRESS
|
Printable version |
| By Cardinal EDWARD CASSIDY
29 July, 2007 |
 |
| Cardinal EDWARD CASSIDY |
|
|
I AM MORE than a little surprised to find myself here this-morning with you young people, who are the future of our Church in Australia, speaking to you about 2028 and faith in the future. I expect that I am not far from the end of my own journey in this world. Still you have asked me to join in this forum and I do so in the hope that I may be able to contribute something from my own experience to the discussions.
It is easy, of course, to look to the future with a certain concern, and it would be foolish to deny the dangers that threaten the well-being of our world. We cannot ignore the threat that comes from climate change or dismiss the danger of the continuing conflicts in various parts of our world, and especially in the Middle East. My generation has left you a new threat, greater than anything known in the past, namely that of nuclear conflict.
We might well lose hope in the future, were it not for our faith. We believe that God is the master of history. In his providence, our world had overcome many great trials and dangers in the past, and I believe that it can do so in the future. As the Scriptures remind us, He is a mighty God, and we are his people, people of hope, Resurrection people!
Should we then simply sit back and allow God to find the solution to all our evils and difficulties? No, God does not treat his children like robots or slaves, but requires of them obedience to the laws that make for a better world and co-operation in building such a world. He invites us and all people of good-will to be partners in His work of on-going creation, and has sent the Holy Spirit to guide us along the way.
As we consider this morning this challenge from three angles: the Christian, the Muslim and the secular society, I believe that people in each of these categories generally desire to make sure that in 2028 our nation will have moved further along the way of being a cohesive society, in which all people of good will can feel at home. I know that the Christian community is committed to this, and I believe that we have much to offer in achieving that goal.
Unfortunately, we cannot claim that Christianity has always been dedicated to such a task. Within the Christian community, however, especially during the past 50 or 60 years there have been developments that, I believe, can help all of us to base on solid ground our attempts to promote peaceful and fruitful co-existence between people of different cultural backgrounds, and so work together to build a better world. For the Catholic Church, this process was aided and inspired by the Second Vatican Council. In referring to relations between the Church and other world religions, for example, the council placed the emphasis, not upon the differences between religions, but on what people of different religions have in common and what may draw them to fellowship. It placed before us Catholics this consideration: if, as Christians understand it, there is but one God who made the whole human race and holds all his children in his love, then surely any child of that one God should similarly treat the other with loving respect. The council has given us Catholics a challenge in these words: “We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any person, created as he or she is in the image of God.” And, finally, the council reproved, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against people because of their race, colour, condition of life, or religion.
There we had a whole new way of thinking about other religions and the people who belong to those religions. But in fact, when you look more deeply at these principles, you have a whole new way of thinking about other people in general, and irrespective of cultural distinctions. With these principles as a guide, the Catholic Church set out in the mid 1960s to enter into contact with other religions and also with
people of goodwill with a purely secular philosophy of life.
The basic change that has taken place during the 40 years of internal discussion within the Catholic Church, as a consequence of the council decisions, may be summed up, I believe, in looking at those who profess other religions, or no religion at all for that matter, no longer as simply being persons to be converted to Christianity, but as fellow citizens of God’s great family to be respected, befriended and in this sense loved. They are not to be seen as “those others”, but rather as brothers. This is of utmost importance in confronting cultural conflict. I was deeply moved by my contacts with the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict. This was not a conflict about religious beliefs, but the people involved were either Christian or Muslim. Yet, men were being brutally murdered because, I was told, they are not part of us. They are “the others”! Women were being raped and abused because they belonged to “the others”. Children were left to starve simply because they belonged to “the others”. If you happened to be one of the others – no matter to which group you belonged – you would not be given respect, treated humanely or taken care of. That this should still happen at the end of the 20th century is a tremendous challenge to all men and women of religious faith to cry out in protest and to join hands in changing such a mentality.
The “other” in the true Christian message is to be loved, not ignored or badly treated. Love in this sense means respect. It means being concerned for the other, to be ready to stand by the other in difficulty, to care about the other in need, joining hands with those who suffer injustice or discrimination. Jesus taught his followers these basic principles: He told us to love our neighbour as ourselves; to love even our enemies; to love one another as He has loved us.
In an address on Development in Catholic Social Teaching, on May 21 of this year, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of this understanding of society. “Concern for human beings’ real needs, respect for the dignity of each individual, and a sincere search for the common good: these, he said, are the motivating principles that must be borne in mind when planning the development of a nation” (VIS 22/5/2007). This is a great challenge to you, young Catholic students of Australia today.
From my own contact with Islam, both here in Australia and in interfaith dialogue at the international level, I know that much of what I have said about the Christian teaching finds a deep resonance also in the Koran. Just a short time ago, I had the privilege of being present at the Notre Dame University in Sydney for an evening during which three exponents of interfaith dialogue, the Melkite Catholic Archbishop of Galilee, Elias Chacour, Dr Muhammad Sammak, a Muslim scholar and respected Government adviser in Lebanon, and our own Jeremy Jones, the past president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, spoke. I came away, as I believe many others did who were present, with a renewed faith in the future of our world. There was significant agreement between these representatives of the three main religious societies in the Middle East. They set out principles that correspond to what those I have been explaining, beginning with the statement: “We are created in God’s image, so love the image of God in each other”. And “tolerance is not the key to “brotherhood; sharing and forgiveness is”.
These same principles, I believe, can guide us in our relationship with young people with a purely secular philosophy of life. We have to take into account the fact that we live in a secular society, which has become more secular in recent years that it was in the past. This need not darken the hopeful picture that I have been trying to present regarding the future. Religion and state have been clearly separated and distinct from the earliest days of the Federation, Still, many people without faith share the basic values to which I have referred, and, after all, our nation and its legislation have been built upon Christian values. Just as one cannot really understand Europe without taking into consideration the Christian influence on its culture, the same is true of our country.
One of the principles for harmonious living suggested by our visitors from the Middle East, already referred to, was “Seek to know a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian, rather than Islam, Judaism or Christianity”. Discussion and dialogue will be needed if we are to work towards a more cohesive society in 2028, and I urge you young Catholic students to be women and men of dialogue, both with members of other religion and with those of no religion. The Second Vatican Council urged Catholics to respect not only members of other religions, but also those religions themselves, pointing out that the Catholic Church “regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men”.
In recent years successful attempts have been made at the international level to bring members of different religious affiliation together, in order to seek mutual understanding and prevent possible conflict. Pope Paul VI offered Catholic representatives taking part in these meetings the following good advice: “We desire,” he said, “to join them in promoting and defending common ideals in the spheres of religious liberty, human brotherhood, education, social welfare and civic order.” He asked that special attention be paid “to those worshippers who adhere to other monotheistic systems of religion”, recalling the bond that links the Christian and Jewish religions and stating, with regard to Islam: “We do well to admire these people for all that is good and true in their worship of God”.
Experience in multicultural relations here in Australia has made it clear that being very respectful to the other party is not enough. A positive outcome depends on something deeper, namely a meeting of minds. Efforts are being made here in Australia to bring people of differing cultural backgrounds together, to help them realise that “the other” is not so very different to themselves.
This kind of activity is often referred to as a “dialogue of life”. It starts off with a kind of “friendly co-existence”, but develops through being together, listening to each other, working together, speaking together on questions of common interest and justice. Greater understanding results and attitudes can change dramatically. Much more effort is needed, however, at the local level to inform, educate and bring together members of different religions and cultural groups if a cohesive Australia is to be fostered and built up. Ignorance of the other is a tool in the hands of those who wish to create trouble.
Good principles are not so difficult to enunciate. It is much harder to bring them into the life of those who form part of the tradition that proposes them. Those principles begin to have effect when members of diverse cultural and religious communities join together in some common cause that will benefit society in general. Barriers disappear and strong friendly relationships take their place. Such co-operation is like a school where those involved learn to respect the other, create lasting fellowship and contribute to building a cohesive society. This is the task that faces our communities, and especially you young citizens of Australia and members of the Christian family in this country at this time.
+ Edward Idris
Cardinal Cassidy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
