RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS |
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DECLARATION ON THE RELATION OF
THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS Introduction:
The Document
On The Relation of the Church To Non-Christian Religions is very brief and concise. It has only
five principles or points of renewal stipulated in the document.
Principles: 1. Considering
the developments which strengthens the friendship and bonds among
countries, among regions and among peoples, the Church examines/reviews
its relations with other non-christian religions. She reflects that which
is common to all and that which promotes fellowship among them. 2. Throughout
history, all accept the awareness and the reality of the hidden power,
which lies behind the course of nature and the events of human life.
There is a recognition of a supreme being, of a Father.
This recognition results in a way of life that is imbued with a
deep religious sense. The
religions which are found in most advanced civilizations endeavor
by way of well defined concepts and exact language
to answer these questions. 3. The Church
has high regards to the Muslims. They
worship God who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the
Creator of heaven and earth, who has also spoken to people. They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the
hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God’s plan,
to whose faith Muslims eagerly link to their own.
For many centuries, many quarrels and dissension arose between Christians
and Muslims. The sacred
Council now 4. Sounding the
depths of the mystery which is the Church, the sacred Council remembers
the spiritual ties which link the People of the New Covenant to the stock
of Abraham. The Church
acknowledges that in God’s plan of salvation, the beginning of her faith
and election is to be found in the patriarchs, Moses and the prophets.
She professes that all Christ’s faithful are included in the same
patriarch’s call and that the salvation of the church is mystically
prefigured in the exodus of
God’s chosen [people from the land of bondage. 5. There is no
basis either in theory or in practice for any discrimination between
individuals or between peoples arising from human dignity or from the
rights which flow from it. The
Church reproves any discrimination against people or any harassment of
them on the basis of their race, color, condition in life or religion.
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