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DISCLOSURES ON ROME MEETING OF WORLD RELIGIONS
200 Participants from Around the World Expected

VATICAN CITY, AUG 10 (ZENIT).- The Holy See is preparing a meeting of
the principal religions of the world, which will be held in the Vatican
and Assisi from October 23-28. In addition to being a step forward in
dialogue among religious confessions, it will also be a stage in the
preparations for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

There will be 200 participants representing Christianity, as well as
leaders of various animist and Asian religions. The sessions will take
place in the Vatican and will be followed by a pilgrimage to Assisi. On
the last day, a concluding statement will be read in John Paul II's
presence. The event will close with festivities for the participants in
St. Peter's Square.

Dialogue and Identity
Speaking to Vatican Radio, Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, the Vatican entity that
is organizing the event, said that some Catholics wonder how it is
possible to dialogue with other religions without losing their Christian
identity. Dialogue "is a relatively new phenomenon in the Church -- a
development of awareness the Church experienced during Vatican Council
II -- just 30 years ago. But it is also an understanding of Christ's
role, which is fundamental, and for the whole of humanity. He is not
just for Christians. John Paul II has referred to this Council teaching:
when the Son of God became man, he entered into relationship with every
member of humanity, of all times and throughout the world. Therefore, in
a certain sense, there is not a single human person who is outside of
Christ. With such faith in Christ, who is Lord and Savior of all, we
want to meet with people who do not believe in Christ, but who, in a
mysterious way, are already joined to him," Bishop Fitzgerald said.

A Common Adventure
The Bishop continued, "In fact, we can also see the action of the Spirit
of God in the heart of people. We meet people who are good, honest,
cooperative and we also see very good elements in the religious
traditions -- we can attribute all this to God. We are not coming to the
dialogue thinking that we have it all and the others have nothing.
Together we shall discover our riches reciprocally. In a certain sense,
it is an adventure we are entering together."

Movements' Contributions
Teresa Goncalves, an official of the Pontifical Council for
Inter-Religious Dialogue, spoke about the contribution being made to the
religious dialogue by the movements and new ecclesial communities, born
both before and after Vatican Council II. "They have taken on the
commitment to ecumenism and dialogue with the Council's religions."

Specifically, the Vatican representative mentioned the work, "Men and
religions," of the St. Egidio Community that has been carried out since
the meeting of religious leaders, called by John Paul II In 1986 in
Assisi. Also, the work of the Focolares, "who through the spirituality
of dialogue have cemented profound fraternity with persons of other
religions," Goncalves explained.

Goncalves believes "that the lay movements also make a specific
contribution because of their integration in society -- in the realms of
economics, politics, etc., precisely because of their lay character."

Bishop Fitzgerald said that Catholic men and women religious will also
take part in the meeting, as well as leaders of the movements and new
communities. "All the Catholic Church's categories will participate," he
explained. "We want to build on the foundations of dialogue, which is
already taking place in many areas."

Artistic Dimension
In addition, the meeting will have an artistic dimension, "for which
today's world has special sensitivity," Teresa Goncalves added. "Because
of this, we have thought of organizing a concert in the Paul VI Audience
Hall, and have entrusted it to 'Gen Rosso,' an international Christian
group -- although there will also be groups from other religions,
specifically Japan, India, two Moroccan Moslem singers and the Jewish
Choir of Rome. In this way, we hope to entrust the message of dialogue
among the religions to the power of artistic communication."