Ecumenical / Interfaith

The Ecumenical / Interfaith Officer appointed by the Bishop is:

• responsible to maintain contacts with Ecumenical and Interfaith groups in the Diocese of Hamilton and the Province of Ontario AND
• to inform the Bishop of Ecumenical and Interfaith activities which might suitably be promoted in the Parishes and other institutions in the Diocese.

Activity for

• the promotion of unity between Christians – all of whom belong to one family of faith
• is to be distinguished
• from interfaith activities, which aim to foster understanding between Christianity and the other religions.

The Ecumenical – Interfaith Officer is guided by the “Culture of Encounter’ Pope Francis [ 2016]

An invitation to work for “the culture of encounter”, in a simple way, “as Jesus did”: not just seeing, but looking; not just hearing, but listening; not just passing people by, but stopping with them; not just saying “what a shame, poor people!”, but allowing yourself to be moved with compassion; “and then to draw near, to touch and to say: ‘Do not weep’ and to give at least a drop of life”.

The four major ‘modes’ or ‘methods’ of dialogue:

• The dialogue of life, in which believers live side by side and come to know each other through daily interactions and friendships with their neighbours and colleagues.
• The dialogue of works or of practical cooperation, in which believers collaborate on important projects on a local or broader level, to meet basic human needs and help to improve the community.
• The dialogue of experts, in which specialists come together to examine important things of similarity and difference between faiths, and to understand more deeply the meaning of their beliefs and teachings.
• The dialogue of religious experience, in which believers share with each other about their forms of prayer, their spiritual ideals, and their sense of the transcendent

The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity is entrusted with the promotion, within the Catholic Church, of an authentic ecumenical spirit according to the conciliar decree Unitatis redintegratio.

The Dicastery is active in all areas that can contribute to promoting Christian unity by strengthening relationships with other Churches and Ecclesial Communities. It organizes and oversees dialogue and collaboration with the other Churches and World Communions.

The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue promotes and supervises relations with members and groups of non-Christian religions, within the spirit of the conciliar declaration Nostra Aetate. 

NOTE: Judaism, the competence for which belongs to the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Dicastery works to ensure that dialogue with the followers of other religions takes place in an appropriate way, with an attitude of listening, esteem and respect. It fosters various kinds of relations with them so that, through the contribution of all, peace, freedom, social justice, the protection and safeguarding of creation, and spiritual and moral values may be promoted.