Catholic Online

U.S. Catholic-Muslim dialogue looks at faithful living in today's world

By Jerry Filteau

10/4/2006

Catholic News Service

At their recent Midwest dialogue, Catholic and Muslim leaders and scholars discussed what it means to live one's faith in a complex society that is secular and multicultural.

The Midwest Regional Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims was held Sept. 12-13 at the Retreat Center at St. John's in Plymouth, Mich. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic co-sponsor of the dialogue, issued a news release on it at the end of September.

Amid a debate over the role of religion in American life, Catholic and Muslim dialogue participants noted that their respective convictions, based on revelation, make them bearers of faith traditions that offer humanity guidance on peace, reconciliation and virtuous living.

Anas Malik, a Muslim who teaches sociology and political science at Xavier University in Cincinnati, analyzed the dynamics of Christian-Muslim collaboration on justice and other shared social concerns.

He said cooperation involves a cost on each side, so agreement to take the risk of collaborating cannot be presumed. His paper set a framework for discussing the interaction of trust and power in human group relations.

Donald W. Mitchell, a professor of philosophy and religion at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., presented a paper on the role of the laity in the life of the Catholic Church. He discussed lay spiritualities and movements and the challenges of living as a Catholic in a secular culture.

Discussion of his paper led to clarification by Catholic participants that when the church speaks of evangelization it is not talking about proselytizing, but bringing values of the Gospel to all aspects of life.

The discussion also turned to questions of authority in Catholicism and Islam. Participants noted that, while Islam is basically egalitarian, in practice holy people and legal scholars may exercise a certain authority. Participants also discussed the authority of their respective holy books in their communities -- the Bible for Catholics, the Quran for Muslims.

The next meeting is to be held Oct. 21-23, 2007, at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Mich.

Its topic will be "The Mission of Muslim-Catholic Dialogue in the USA." Among issues to be discussed are best practices in local dialogues, the scope and structures of regional dialogues, interreligious cooperation on social issues, the principles and ethics of dialogue and how to approach questions of interfaith prayer.

The Midwest dialogue, one of three regional dialogues between Catholics and Muslims in the United States, was started in 1996. Last year it issued a report, "Revelation: Catholic and Muslim Perspectives."

Co-chairing the Plymouth meeting were Auxiliary Bishop Francis R. Reiss of Detroit and Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary of the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim co-sponsor of the dialogue.