Vatican and World Council of Churches to Pursue Common Code of Conduct on Religious Conversion |
The Vatican and the World Council of Churches (WCC) are launching a
three-year joint study project aimed at developing a shared code of conduct
on the controversial issue of religious conversion.
The study project, named "Interreligious reflection on conversion: from
controversy to a shared code of conduct", is being launched with a meeting
in Velletri, Rome, from 12-16 May 2006. Gathering some 30 participants
representing different religious traditions and regions, the meeting will
focus on assessing the current reality of religious conversion from an
interreligious point of view.
The next stages of the project will be, first, a discussion of religious
conversion from a Christian perspective and, second, the establishment of a
shared code of conduct. This is expected to distinguish between witness and
proselytism, making respect for freedom of thought, conscience and the
religion of others a primary concern in any encounter between people of
different faiths.
The study project is being jointly undertaken by the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue and the WCC's Office on Interreligious Relations and
Dialogue. In addition to Christians, dialogue partners from Buddhist, Hindu,
Jewish, Muslim and Indigenous religious traditions are also expected to
participate.
"The issue of religious conversion remains a controversial dimension in many
interconfessional and interreligious relations", says Rev. Dr Hans Ucko,
head of the WCC's interreligious relations office. "We hope that at the end
of this study project, we will be able to propose a code of conduct that
will affirm that commitment to our faith never translates into denigration
of the other", he says.
[World Council of Churches news release]
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