| Meeting with the Australian Intercultural Society
Statement by His Grace, Most Reverend Denis J. Hart D.D.
Archbishop of Melbourne
Metropolitan of the Dioceses of Ballarat, Sale and Sandhurst
and of SS Peter and Paul of Melbourne
On the occasion of his meeting with The Australian Intercultural Society, 2 November 2006
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Christians and Muslims alike worship the One God. John Paul the Second, who contributed so much to the work of interreligious dialogue, stated quite clearly,
“Christians and Muslims have many things in common, as believers and as human beings. We live in the same world, marked by many signs of hope, but also by multiple signs of anguish. For us, Abraham is a model of faith in God, of submission to his will and of confidence in his goodness. We believe in the same God, the one God, the living God, the God who created the world and brings his creatures to their perfection.”1
This common faith is the foundation of our relationship and characterises all our activities. Because we worship the same God in whom Abraham put his faith, we are duty bound to live together in unity of mind and heart. The One God requires us to live as one with each other.
Pope Benedict the Sixteenth, in his very first address after being elected as Pope, stated his wish to continue establishing bridges of friendship with the adherents of all religions, showing particular appreciation for the growth of dialogue between Muslims and Christians.2
He repeated this same point several weeks later when he met with Muslim leaders in Cologne, Germany, on the occasion of World Youth Day. He said
“Interreligious and intercultural dialogue between Christians and Muslims cannot be reduced to an optional extra. It is, in fact, a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends”.3
He developed this point more recently when he met with the Ambassadors from Muslim countries accredited to the Holy See. He stated that:
“In a world marked by relativism and too often excluding the transcendence and universality of reason, we are in great need of an authentic dialogue between religions and between cultures, capable of assisting us, in a spirit of fruitful cooperation, to overcome all the tensions together.”4
Pope Benedict has stated clearly, therefore, his respect for Islam and has declared his wish to develop the dialogue.
Likewise it is my pleasure to be with you this evening, to declare our shared faith in the One God and also to declare publicly and clearly the commitment of the Catholic Church in Melbourne to the work of interreligious dialogue. Indeed, in my Pastoral Letter of 2004 addressed to all the Catholics in Melbourne I listed as one of my priorities the outreach to members of other religious traditions. It is my earnest wish that Catholics should cooperate with Muslims and therefore with the members of the Australian Intercultural Society in every way possible. The possibilities are immense since the Catholic Church in Melbourne is the largest Catholic community in Australia and numbers about 1 million. It has hundreds of churches in Melbourne and it has established hundred of schools both primary and secondary. It has a large number of agencies in every domain, social welfare, hospitals, and chaplaincies and so on.
Dialogue is important for us, it is important for our world. People will look upon our harmony and mutual respect and be moved to say that God must have revealed himself if Muslims and Christians, who are different in many ways, can come close in bonds of affection and mutuality. Our closeness is a sign to a secularised world that the God of Abraham is alive and active. They will see that we submit to the revelation that has come from the Almighty. They will see that we have contact, in some mysterious way, with the One who transcends the heavens and the earth and who has yet spoken to us and drawn us into his life.
A very important part of the interfaith mission of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Melbourne is the Asia-Pacific Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue at Australian Catholic University. The Centre has been established as a bridge between the Catholic Church and faith communities of other religious traditions, not only in Melbourne but also throughout Australia, and in other countries in the Asia-Pacific.
I remember with affection and appreciation the launching of the Centre. His Eminence Mehmet Ali Sengul attended the ceremony on behalf of Hodjaefendi Fethullah Gülen. Their Eminences, Cardinal Cormack Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, and Mehmet Ali Sengul gave addresses and unveiled the plaque commemorating the event. Mr Orhan Cicek, Executive Adviser of the Australian Intercultural Society and Professor Peter Sheehan AO, Vice-Chancellor of the University, signed the Declaration of Intent officially establishing the chair in Islamic Studies uniquely named the ‘Fethullah Gülen Chair’.
I have come this evening particularly to express my thanks for the work of the Australian Intercultural Society and my admiration for the wide range of activities you have undertaken. The Society has been at the forefront of interreligious dialogue in Melbourne.
In the day to day work of interreligious dialogue I have delegated my authority to the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission of the Archdiocese and especially to its chair, Monsignor Peter Kenny, who is my vicar in this matter and to whom I would like to express my thanks for his gentle and effective promotion of dialogue. I am informed that the Commission is proposing to enter into a formal agreement of cooperation with the Australian Intercultural Society. I welcome this initiative and look forward to seeing the text of the agreement.
Pope Benedict hopes that the Christian and Muslim world will work together to create a society based on humanity and reason. Indeed, the Catholic Church and the Muslim communities have, on the international stage, often worked together on issues concerning justice and family life. This has happened at UNESCO and must be mirrored on the Melbourne scene as well.
We Catholics wish to proclaim our joy in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is forever blessed. We wish to be good news to you and to share with you the joy of our faith just as we want to drink of the peace that comes from Islam. We will learn from each other how to be more faithful. We will discover ways to become more truly Muslim and more truly Christian. We will be able to worship God who is forever blessed, more wholeheartedly and with greater insight.
The God we worship is compassionate and full of mercy. We honour him, therefore, when we are compassionate to each other. If we truly worship him, we will also be merciful to each other in all our weaknesses.
Catholics and Muslims both believe in Judgment Day when we will be called to give an account of our stewardship. In the Gospel of Matthew (25.31-46) Jesus is described as the Just Judge. In obedience to the One who sent him, may he look on us that day and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your Master’s happiness.”5
In token of my respect and in memory of this evening’s meeting, may I present to you a calligraphic copy of the Psalms which have been basic to Christian prayer since time immemorial.
+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.
1 John Paul II, ‘To the Young Muslims of Morocco, Casablanca, August 19, 1985’, in Gioia, Interreligious Dialogue, p.297.
2 cf. Address to the Delegates of Other Churches and Ecclesial Communities and of Other Religious Traditions, April 25, 2005.
3 Meeting with Representatives of Some Muslim Communities, Cologne, and August 20, 2005.
4 Castel Gandolfo, Italy, September 25, 2006
55 Mt 25.23
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