If you happen to be at my house at the top of any hour, you will hear the sound of church bells ringing or playing a familiar church hymn. They ring every day and are a constant source of comfort for me—as well as a nice timekeeper.
Those bells reside at the local Methodist church up the street from our house. That church has been a constant fixture in our family’s life, even though we don’t attend services there. It is where my two oldest children attended preschool. Our family has offered donations for some of their charitable events that benefit the needy in our local community. And every Christmas we go to their live manger scene. Yet, I know nothing of their beliefs or where they fit into the family of religions.
Also, not far from our house is a Baptist church. I drive past it every day and go there to vote. But again, even though I have lived in close proximity to this place of worship my entire life, I also know very little about it.
I suspect that many of the members of those congregations know very little, if anything, about my Catholic parish just down the road from both of them. Yet the purpose of each is very similar, and that is to bring people closer to God. Even within the Catholic faith and Franciscan order there are numerous branches. Sometimes, even after 30 years of working at Franciscan Media, I still have to pull out my cheat sheet to refresh my memory about the Franciscan family and its orders.
Wake-up Call
The other week, my lack of knowledge about the various faiths that surround us daily became abundantly clear when my youngest daughter, Kacey, asked how her friend, who is Methodist, was different than Catholics and what she believed. I am embarrassed to say that I didn’t have an answer for her, something parents often don’t like to admit.
The subject of other faith traditions had never come up with her brother and sisters because they had all gone to local Catholic high schools. Other faiths were not often discussed, they said. But Kacey had decided to take a different route and go to the local public school, which exposed her to a more diverse environment.
My first instinct was to tell Kacey to just ask her. But then I wondered if either one of them would know how to clearly articulate their beliefs or understand the differences. Instead, I said, “Let me get back to you on that.”
Learning Curve
I began educating myself on the basic tenets of the various faith traditions, sometimes reaching out to friends in those traditions. Other times I sought out reputable sources to find answers. I was astonished at how much I didn’t know and was fulfilled by what I learned. It’s also not as cut-and-dried as I would like it to be.
I was reminded that the three major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. Concerning the last one, while I had learned about Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, my knowledge pretty much ended there. I did not realize that beneath the Protestant umbrella there is a vast array of various denominations, including Southern Baptists and Quakers. Some of those denominations also have subsets.
And while it might be a challenge to sift through the array of beliefs, it’s worth it. Following the trail of the various denominations and their beliefs filled in blanks for me and also answered questions I didn’t even realize I had.
Sources of Inspiration
The concept of interreligious dialogue is one that is not new to Catholics, at least it shouldn’t be. We have many examples of the power of such conversations.
Time and again, Pope Francis has spoken about the importance of working with believers of other faith traditions. He placed a prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem during a papal visit in 2014. His two predecessors—St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI—also visited and prayed at the wall.
In a 2022 address to participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, Pope Francis told those in attendance: “This is your mission: to promote, with other believers, in a fraternal and convivial manner, the journey in search of God; considering people of other religions not in an abstract way, but in a real sense, with a history, desires, sufferings, and dreams. Only in this way can we build together a world everyone may inhabit in peace.”
St. Francis gave us a perfect example when he and his companions met with Sultan Al-Malik al-Kamil during the Crusades. And while St. Francis may have traveled to Damietta, Egypt, to convert Muslims, he was eventually welcomed by the sultan, who saw Francis as a holy man. The two, though devout in their respective faiths, spent nearly two weeks together.
A Fulfilling Journey
We can become complacent regarding different aspects of our lives, never traveling outside of what we already know. Sometimes, though, there is something that comes along and shakes us out of that complacency. For me, it was a simple question that I never knew I needed to be asked. But I’m glad I was.
