COUNCIL FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE TO MARK 40 YEARS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 11, 2004 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) will hold its plenary assembly this year from May 14 to 19 and on the last day will mark the 40th anniversary of its founding in 1964 by Pope Paul VI as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, according to a communiqué released by the council.

  In 1988 Pope John Paul, in "Pastor Bonus,"  the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, changed the name of this office to the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and assigned it the duty of "favoring and regulating relations with members and groups of other religions, which are not included under any Christian denomination, and also with people who are, in whatever manner, endowed with a religious sense."

  The pontifical council, whose president is Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, is composed of members appointed by the Holy Father to five-year terms. There are currently three cardinals of the Roman Curia and seven from all continents. Archbishops and bishops from various countries where people of different religious traditions form a single population, will be invited to reflect on the forty years of inter-religious dialogue as practiced by the Catholic Church.

  Following a report by council secretary Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata on PCID activities since the last plenary, participants in the group discussions will give attention to such questions as: How is the practice of inter-religious dialogue understood or grasped in today's world? What means are used to spread the practice of inter-religious dialogue? How is the message of inter-religious dialogue transmitted? What problems are encountered? How is the duty to proclaim Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of all respected while engaging in dialogue with people of other religions?

  To mark the 40th anniversary on May 19, there will be a public session from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Pope John Paul II Auditorium of the Pontifical Urban University. Archbishop Fitzgerald will give opening remarks, and Cardinal Francis Arinze, former council president and now prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, will  speak on "Forty Years of Developing Theological and Dialogical Engagement."

  In another anniversary celebration, the "Gen Rosso," a musical complex of the Focolare Movement, will present a show based on the Psalms. This will take place in the Paul VI Hall on the evening of May 18, which also coincides with the Holy Father's 84th birthday.
CON-DIR/40TH ANNIVERSARY/FITZGERALD    VIS 20040511 (400)