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Relating to religious believers and non-believers Archbishop gives Church’s views in interfaith symposium
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By Christopher Khoo How does the Catholic Church relate to people from other religions and to people with no religion? This and other questions were tackled by Archbishop William Goh during a Jan 20 symposium on how religions can contribute to social harmony and coexistence. The head of the Singapore Catholic Church was among several religious representatives and academics who spoke at the event titled Common Space: Can Religion Contribute to It?, organised by the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. In his keynote lecture, Archbishop Goh explained that the two documents guiding Catholics in relating to non-Christians and those without religion were Nostra Aetate, the 1965 declaration on the Church’s relations to nonChristian religions, and the 1998 encyclical, Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason). “The fundamental guideline given in Nostra Aetate is simply this,” he told the 500-strong crowd. “Whatever is holy and true, whatever is good and true in [other] religions, the Church does not reject. Not only does the Church not reject, the Church wants to promote and foster what is good and true in these religions,” he said during his talk titled Nostra Aetate as a Religious Resource for Common Space. Archbishop Goh said the document lists four guiding principles for engaging with non-Christians. 7KH ¿UVW LV WKDW KXPDQLW\ LV “one community”. “Everyone is a child of God regardless of who they are,” said Archbishop Goh. “Because we have the same origin, we have the same destiny… We all have the
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POPE FRANCIS For the hurts that &KULVWLDQV LQÁLFWHG on one another . . . Pope asks for pardon Page 13 Archbishop William Goh speaking at the symposium titled Common Space: Can Religion Contribute to It?
same blood, we all have the same aspirations.” It also means that the Church “does not tolerate discrimination of any sort – race, colour, religion” and exhorts its members to collaborate with members of other faiths for peace and harmony, he said. The second principle is the need to stress what is common
among religions, said Archbishop Goh. “What unites us … is much more than what divides us.” “Every religion attempts to explain the meaning of life, the purpose of life: What is happiness, why is there suffering, where do I come from, what will happen after death, what is life all about?” he said.
is holy and true, whatever is good ‘Whatever and true in [other] religions, the Church does not reject. Not only does the Church not reject, the Church wants to promote and foster what is good and true in these religions,
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- Archbishop William Goh
“Therefore all of us have the same aspirations for authenticity, for meaning, for purpose.” Nostra Aetate stresses that the Church must therefore have “high regard for the practices of other religions”, said Archbishop Goh, adding that the Church is happy when another religion is doing good work. The third principle is the issue of “distinctiveness”. “Every religion must be taken on its own terms,” said Archbishop Goh. “No religion can be compared with another.” He added, “We don’t try to disprove another person’s belief. Continued on Page 9
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