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INTERRELIGIOUS-GUIDELINES Jun-4-2008 (300 words) xxxi
Vatican working on interreligious dialogue guidelines, official says
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican is working on a new set of pastoral guidelines for interreligious dialogue, a leading official said.
The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue began pulling together elements for the guidelines at its plenary session in Rome, said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, council president.
"After many years of hesitation about the suitability of such a document, the time has arrived to offer pastors and the faithful some general orientations, which obviously will have to be adapted to local situations," Cardinal Tauran said in an opening address to the council's plenary meeting June 4.
The cardinal said the guidelines would be inspired in part by the Ten Commandments, which remain universal principles in a believer's relationship with God and with neighbors.
Cardinal Tauran offered no timeline for the new document, but said the council's meeting should provide ample material for its preparation. His comments were reported by Vatican Radio.
In 1991, the interreligious council published dialogue guidelines under the title "Dialogue and Proclamation." The document called for a balance between dialogue and evangelization and said proclaiming Christ must be done with sensitivity, humility and respect for other cultures.
Pope Benedict XVI named Cardinal Tauran to head the council last year.
In his opening address, the cardinal said the church must help Catholics understand that all believers share a common patrimony of values, including belief in God, the sacredness of life, the need for brotherhood, the experience of prayer and the language of religion.
For their part, he said, Christians need to proclaim openly that Christ is the way, the truth and the life.
"We cannot put this under the bushel basket," he said.
Christians should be "prepared to share their spiritual convictions and to consider those of others," he said.
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Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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