Catholicism and Interreligious Dialogue

How can the world's many religions overcome ideological differences and come together to promote understanding, justice and peace? In this groundbreaking volume, James L. Heft and fifteen other leading scholars of the world's major religions show how to answer this crucial question. Structured as a scholarly dialogue, Catholicism and Interreligious Dialogue contains essays by five Catholic scholars who have committed to extensive study of and dialogue with another world religion. Each scholar presents an assessment of the present state of interreligious dialogue between the Catholic Church and practitioners of a a particular faith, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. These assessments are followed by critical responses from two scholars of the tradition under discussion, as well as concluding comments from the Catholic scholar who offered the assessment.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction James L. Heft, S.M. 2. Catholicism and Judaism: The Road Behind and the Road Ahead Philip A. Cunningham Responses Elliot N. Dorff and Rachel Adler Further Reflections Philip A. Cunningham 3. Catholicism and Islam: Dialogue in Difficult Times Daniel Madigan, S.J. Responses Zayn Kassam and Jihad Turk Further Reflections Daniel Madigan, S. J. 4. Catholicism and Hinduism: Learning Our Way Francis Clooney, S. J. Responses Christopher Chapple and Swami Sarvadevananda Further Reflections Francis Clooney, S.J. 5. Catholicism and Buddhism: Off the Map James L. Fredericks Responses Anselm Kyongsuk Min and Huaiyu Chen Further Reflections James L. Fredericks 6. Catholicism and Confucianism: An Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Peter C. Phan Responses Robin W. Wang and Robert Ford Campany Further Reflections Peter C. Phan 7. Biographies of Authors 8. Index

About the Author :
Fr. James L. Heft, S.M. (Marianist), Alton Brooks Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California, is the author or editor of twelve books and over 170 scholarly articles, and currently serves at the President of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC. His recent research has focused on the mission of Catholic education and interreligious dialogue.

Review :
"In bringing together prominent Catholic theologians who have been engaged in prolonged dialogue with particular religious traditions, this book offers a rich taste of the very different flavors of interreligious dialogue. Each religion indeed presents its own challenges and opportunities for Christian theological reflection. In allowing for responses by scholars belonging to the respective traditions, the book moreover engages in actual dialogue, or in a dialogue about dialogue."---Catherine Cornille, author of The Im-Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue "[An] excellent work in collaboration...strongly recommend the volume to both Christians and members of other religions who wish to understand the background and current challenges for Catholics in their present dialogue and interaction with the adherents of other major faiths."--Theological Studies