Catholic Interfaith Relations
How interfaith couples make it work
Interfaith and interchurch couples face unique challenges in building strong marriages.
Anna Weaver, US Catholic Magazine, November 21, 2011
Before Juliann Richards met Neal Levy, she didn’t doubt that she’d marry a fellow Catholic someday. After all, Richards was raised Catholic, attended Catholic school, grew up mostly around fellow Catholics, and knew she wanted her children raised with the same faith.
“For many years, I told myself (and others) that I was going to the nearby Catholic college to meet a nice Catholic boy and get married,” Richards recalls.
But when she met Levy—who is Jewish—the two quickly became friends and eventually started dating. Fast-forward several years: Richards and Levy, both 27, are newlyweds who married in a Jewish-Catholic ceremony.
Such marriages—interfaith (between a Catholic and a non-Christian) and interchurch (between a Catholic and another Christian)—have been rising for 30 years.
A 2007 survey on marriage by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) revealed that marrying another Catholic is a low priority for young Catholics. Of never-married Catholics, only 7 percent said it was “very important” to marry someone of the same faith.
The Virgin Mary: Bridging Catholics and Muslims
The Journal of Social Encounters published Fr. Carl Chudy’s comparative study on the description of Mary in the Gospels and the Qur’an that “opens us up to the profound mystery of God that transcends the boundaries of both of our faiths…” Access the Journal here.
Being Catholic with Other Faiths
Although Vatican II opened a new door for the Catholic Church to our relationship with other faiths, it did not yet go as far as to say that interreligious dialogue is part of the evangelizing mission of the church. This came through the Pontificate of John Paul II through three subsequent documents: Dialogue and Mission (1984), the mission encyclical Mission of the Redeemer (1990), and Dialogue and Proclamation (1991). These teachings reflect the growing awareness of the centrality of interfaith dialogue in the very mission of the church. For Pope John Paul II, dialogue is fundamental for the Church, based on the very life of the Triune God, as well as on respect and love for every human person: “As far as the local churches are concerned, they must commit themselves in this direction, helping all the faithful to respect and to esteem the values, traditions, and convictions of other believers.”
This dialogue is not a mere discussion about each other’s beliefs. For the church there are several ways this dialogue can play out.
- The first is the dialogue of life where believers of different religions bear witness before each other in daily life to their own human and spiritual values, and help each other to live according to those values in order to build a more just and fraternal society.
- The second is the dialogue of works and action where collaboration with other faiths is opportune in the social, economic and political to build a more humane society.
- The third is the dialogue of theological exchange and often involves specialists and leaders in different faith traditions in search for ultimate truth.
- Finally the dialogue of religious experience is an opportunity to share prayer and religious experiences in our common search for the Absolute.
Compilation of Quotes from Pope Francis on Interfaith and Ecumenical Dialogue
Videos on Interfaith Dialogue, Spirituality and Prayer
Download our latest e-newsletter of the Metrowest Interfaith Dialogue Project
The Teaching of the Catholic Church on Interfaith Dialogue
- Vatican II: Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions
- Vatican II: Mission ad Gentes
- Redemptoris Missio
- Dialogue and Proclamation
US Catholic Bishops on Global Mission and Interfaith Dialogue
- Teaching the Spirit of Mission ad Gentes: Continuing Pentecost Today
- Best Practices to Teach the Spirit of Mission
- Interreligious Dialogue in the USA
- Resources
- Videos
Interfaith Organizations to Connect With
- Interfaith America
- Hartford International University of Religion and Peace
- North American Interfaith Network
- Peace Islands Institute
- World Parliament of Religions
- The Common Word
- United Religions Initiative
- Religions for Peace
- The Religious Pluralism Project of Harvard University
- Interfaith Radio
- Scarboro Missions of Canada
- Shoulder to Shoulder
- Islamic Network Group
- The Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University
Interfaith Journals
- The Interfaith Observer
- Inter-religious Studies
- Current Dialogue Magazine – World Council of Churches
- Evangelical Interfaith
- The Muslim World Journal
Essays on Dialogue by Fr. Carl Chudy, SX
- NEW: Redemptive Suffering Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
- A Catholic Approach to Islamophobia
- Mary: A Bridge Between Islam and Catholicism
- Jesus as a Gulf and a Bridge in Christian Muslim Understanding
- See, Judge, Act: A Model for Catholic Communities to Engage in Refugee Ministry
- Faith and Doubt in a Secular Age
- My Interfaith Dialogue Journey: God Between the Lines
- The First Proclamation and the New Evangelization in the United States
- Common Ground: Conversations Among Humanists and Religious Believers
Join in on interfaith opportunities with our Metrowest Interfaith Dialogue Project. Learn how you can help with the Interfaith Refugee Project helping Ukrainian war refugees settle in the Metrowest area.
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The Metrowest Interfaith Dialogue Project brings multifaith neighbors together from our community in Holliston, Massachusetts. Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.
