Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Catholicism Engaging Other Faiths pp 79–97Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Role of Ecclesial Movements in the Implementation of Nostra Aetate

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 283 Accesses

Part of the book series: Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue ((PEID))

Abstract

The chapter investigates the opening to and development of interreligious dialogue within the Catholic Church since Vatican II through the experience of predominantly lay ecclesial movements like the Sant’Egidio Community and the Focolare Movement. In the last 50 years, the process of opening towards faithful of other religions has been characterized by new institutional positions in the Church hierarchy accompanied by practical experiences often promoted by the so-called new charisms. The author explores some of the main magisterial documents and symbolic gestures by recent Popes alongside the practical theology of the Movements in their attempts to appreciate the implications of these teachings and implement them in practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Benedict XVI, Address to the Parish Priests and Clergy of Rome, Vatican City, 14 February 2013.

  2. 2.

    See Acta et Documenta Concilio Vaticano II in Francesco Iannone, Una Chiesa per gli altri. Il Concilio Vaticano II e le religioni non cristiane (Assisi: Cittadella, 2014), 46.

  3. 3.

    See Il Concilio Vaticano II, II, ed. Giovanni Caprile, 231, in Iannone, Una Chiesa per gli altri, 156.

  4. 4.

    See Iannone, Una Chiesa per gli altri, 232.

  5. 5.

    See ibid., 236.

  6. 6.

    See Karl Rahner, S.J., “Observations on the Problem of Anonymous Christians,” Theological Investigations 14 (1961), 284, quoted in Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., Salvation Outside the Church? Tracing the History of the Catholic Response (New York: Paulist Press, 1992), 162.

  7. 7.

    Yves Congar, O.P., “Le Concile, l’Église et … les Autres”, Lumière et Vie 45 (1959), 174, in Mauro Velati, “Gli altri: ecumenismo e religioni,” Concilium 4 (2005), 49.

  8. 8.

    Joseph Ratzinger, “Il problema dell’assolutezza della via di salvezza cristiana,” in Il nuovo popolo di Dio. Questioni ecclesiologiche (Brescia: Queriniana, 1971), 391, cited in Giovanni Colzani, Missiologia contemporanea. Il cammino evangelico delle Chiese 1945–2007 (Cinisello Balsamo: San Paolo, 2010), 311.

  9. 9.

    See Giuseppe Ruggieri, Ritrovare il Concilio (Torino: Giulio Einaudi, 2012), 108–110.

  10. 10.

    See Joseph Ratzinger, Many Religions One Covenant: Israel, the Church and the World (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1999).

  11. 11.

    See Ruggieri, Ritrovare il Concilio, 100.

  12. 12.

    See John W. O’Malley, S.J., “Erasmus and Vatican II: Interpreting the Council,” in Il Cristianesimo nella storia. Saggi in onore di G. Alberigo, ed. Alberto Melloni, Giuseppe Ruggeri, and Massimo Toschi (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1996), 194–211.

  13. 13.

    Paul VI, Discorso al Sacro Collegio nel giorno del suo onomastico, AAS 57 (1965): 638–645; reprinted in Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, vol. III, (Vatican City: LEV, 1965), 371. Translation mine.

  14. 14.

    See Paul VI, Address to the Last General Meeting of the Second Vatican Council, AAS 58 (1966): 51–9.

  15. 15.

    Paul VI, Address to the Members of the Non-Christian Religions, Mumbai (India), 3 December 1964, AAS 57 (1965): 132–3.

  16. 16.

    Ibid.

  17. 17.

    Ibid.

  18. 18.

    For a more detailed description of this event and subsequent similar gatherings in Assisi, see Jason Welle, O.F.M., “The Evolution of the Assisi Gathering: To Humanism and Beyond?” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 48, no. 3 (2013): 377–390.

  19. 19.

    See Ruggieri, Ritrovare il Concilio, 108–110.

  20. 20.

    Reference is made to the incident of Regensburg which, in the end, offered the possibility for a clear and open exchange with Muslim religious leaders. See, among other examples, Miroslav Volf, Ghazi bin Muhammad and Melissa Yarrington, eds., A Common Word. Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010).

  21. 21.

    Benedict XVI, “Address at the Meeting for Peace in Assisi,” AAS 103, no. 11 (2011): 758–762.

  22. 22.

    Benedict XVI, “Address to the Roman Curia on the Occasion of Christmas Greetings,” AAS 105, no. 1 (2013): 47–54.

  23. 23.

    Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, AAS 105, no. 12 (2013): 1019–1137, nos. 250–4.

  24. 24.

    Also Comunione e Liberazione has developed an interfaith dimension, especially at the academic level and in the context of the monotheistic religions.

  25. 25.

    Massimo Faggioli, Sorting Out Catholicism: A Brief History of the New Ecclesial Movements (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014), 6.

  26. 26.

    See Alberto Melloni, ed., Movements in the Church (Norwich, UK: SCM Press, 2003), 13–35; Jean Beyer, Il diritto della vita consacrata (Milan: Ancora, 1989), 437–452; Piersandro Vanzan, “Elementi comuni e identificativi dell’attuale fenomeno movimentista intraecclesiale con cenni a rischi e speranze,” in Fedeli Associazioni Movimenti, ed. Gruppo Italiano di Docenti di Diritto Canonico (Milan: Glossa, 2002), 187–206.

  27. 27.

    See Jesus Castellano Cervera, “Tratti caratteristici dei Movimenti Ecclesiali contemporanei,” in Rivista Vita Spirituale 39 (1985), 561–64. Translation mine.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., 140.

  29. 29.

    See Cervera, “Tratti caratteristici,” 571.

  30. 30.

    Alessandro Rovello, La morale e i movimenti ecclesiali (Bologna: Dehoniane, 2013), 197.

  31. 31.

    Joseph Ratzinger, “The Ecclesial Movements: A Theological Reflection on Their Place in the Church,” in Pontifical Council for the Laity, Movements in the Church (Vatican City: LEV, 1999), 24.

  32. 32.

    Brendan Leahy, Ecclesial Movements and Communities, 20; Gianfranco Ghirlanda, “I movimenti nella comunione ecclesiale e la loro giusta autonomia,” in Pontifical Council for the Laity, Christifideles Laici (Vatican City: LEV, 1989–1990), 48.

  33. 33.

    Matilde Cocchiaro, Nel deserto fiorisce la fraternità. Ulisse Caglioni fra i musulmani (Rome: Città Nuova, 2006), 61.

  34. 34.

    Henry Tessier, “Prefazione,” in Cocchiaro, Nel deserto fiorisce la fraternità, 7–8.

  35. 35.

    See Chiara Lubich, “What is the Future of a Multicultural, Multiethnic and Multirelgious Society?” (unpublished presentation in London, June 2004).

  36. 36.

    Chiara Lubich, “Can Religions be Partners in Peace Building?” (unpublished presentation at the Assembly of “Initiatives of Change,” Caux, Switzerland, 29th July 2003).

  37. 37.

    Chiara Lubich, The Art of Loving (New York: New City, 2005), 29.

  38. 38.

    See Lisa Palmieri Billig, “Jewish Opening Address” (unpublished presentation at International Conference ‘Chiara and Religions. Together towards Unity of the Human Family,’ Castelgandolfo, 17th to 20th March 2014).

  39. 39.

    Madhavi Narsalay, “A Hindu Reflection” (unpublished presentation at International Conference ‘Chiara and Religions. Together towards Unity of the Human Family,’ Castelgandolfo, 17th to 20th March 2014).

  40. 40.

    Their name is taken from the central meeting place, in the heart of Trastevere in Rome, Piazza Sant’Egidio, where they met in growing number.

  41. 41.

    See “The Community of Sant’Egidio”, Being One 10 (2001): 111–112, quoted in Brendan Leahy, Ecclesial Movements and Communities, Origins, Significance and Issues, (Hyde Park, NY: New City, 2011), 151.

  42. 42.

    Agostino Favale, Comunità nuove nella Chiesa, (Padova: Messaggero, 2003), 329.

  43. 43.

    Ibid., 329.

  44. 44.

    Among them, the one organized in October 1987 by Rev. Etai Yamada, a venerable over ninety-years-old Buddhist monk, at the Hieizan Monastery on Mount Hiei (Japan) had a special significance.

  45. 45.

    There had been events organized also in the U.S.A. (Washington, 2006) and the Holy Land (Jerusalem, 1995).

  46. 46.

    Jean Dominic Durand, Lo ‘Spirito di Assisi,’ (Rome: Leonardo International, 2004), 14, cited in Comunità di Sant’Egidio, Lo spirito di Assisi. Dalle religioni una speranza di pace (Cinisello Balsamo: San Paolo, 2011), 79. Translation mine.

  47. 47.

    Ibid., 42.

  48. 48.

    See Together for Europe (Rome: Città Nuova, 2004), in Leahy, Ecclesial Movements and Communities, 166.

  49. 49.

    Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam Suam, AAS 56 (1964): 609–59, no. 65.

  50. 50.

    John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, AAS 83 (1991): 249–340, no. 29.

  51. 51.

    John Paul II, Address to the Meeting of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, 31st May 1998.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome, Italy

    Roberto Catalano

  2. Movimento dei Focolari, Rome, Italy

    Roberto Catalano

Authors
  1. Roberto Catalano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tübingen University, Tübingen, Germany

    Vladimir Latinovic

  2. Department of Theology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    Gerard Mannion

  3. Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome, Italy

    Jason Welle, O.F.M.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Catalano, R. (2018). The Role of Ecclesial Movements in the Implementation of Nostra Aetate. In: Latinovic, V., Mannion, G., Welle, O.F.M., J. (eds) Catholicism Engaging Other Faiths. Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98584-8_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation