Videoconference for the Clergy, November 2002 (Inter-religious dialogue)
Bogotá – Professor Cajiao – "God is close to those who search for Him with sincerity"
The reference point for my paper is to be found in no. 16 of Lumen gentium: "Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things (see. Acts 17, 25-28), and as Saviour will have all men to be saved (see 1 Tm 2, 4) ". This reference however cannot ignore the broader framework of the Second Vatican Council and the two Declarations Nostra aetate and Dignitatis humanae. In particular the no. 3 of this last declaration in which mankind’s capacity to achieve truth in the field of religion is discussed, on condition that this search is sincere. God Himself in fact makes His presence known when mankind discovers the order that the Creator has established within the creation, on condition that this research is undertaken in the respect of human dignity, hence exercising free will and with no kind of coercion what so ever.
The Nostra aetate Declaration correctly indicates how in the course of history human beings have attempted to find in the various religions answers to the great enigmas of their existence, since they sense, or understand through reason, that in these religions – for the very reason that their reference point is the divine and the supernatural – they find the answers to the great questions posed by human existence and in particular the question formulated in paragraph no. 1 of the abovementioned document: what is "after all which is the final and ineffable mystery that surrounds our existence, from which we originate and towards which we tend"?.
The Holy Father John Paul II, in his closing speech at the inter-religious meeting held in the Vatican City and in Assisi in October 1999, convinced of this work undertaken by the Spirit of God in the hearts of all men, stated that: "The teachings and the example of Jesus Christ have provided Christians with a clear sense of the universal brotherhood of all people. The persuasion that the Holy Spirit breathes where he will (see John 3, 8) prevents us from pronouncing rushed and hazarded judgements because it leads us to appreciate all that is hidden in the hearts of others" (see L’Osservatore Romano, no. 45, 5.XI.99, p. 6). I dare also affirm that this may represent a veiled reference to all that the Second Vatican Council’s documents maintain regards to this presence of a ‘Unknown God’ deep in the heart, which in biblical language represents the very centre of a human person, the conscience.
Jesus Christ has led human beings to fullness or, more precisely, it is in Him that the human being in his fullness is revealed. This Pauline theological truth leads us to deduce the consequences and apply them to all men of good will, who, following their own consciences, will attempt to achieve authentically and fully their own humanity. We could therefore state that these people, in sincerely practising their own religions, are living in the presence of Christ within themselves. This does not mean that the Church must forgo its evangelisation activity, but rather that, as stated in no. 17 of Lumen gentium: "Through her work, whatever good is in the minds and hearts of men, whatever good lies latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse peoples, is not only saved from destruction but is also cleansed, raised up and perfected unto the glory of God, the confusion of the devil and the happiness of man".