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“Ask a Priest: Is It OK to Study Other Religions for the Sake of Unity?”

Q: I am a yoga teacher and a practicing Catholic. I enjoying studying other spiritual philosophies to broaden my capacity for understanding — to teach others and myself. I also really want to be a pillar for interfaith movements — that we do not need to be separated but can have different understandings of the belief in God. Can you provide some prompts or guidance on how I can stay rooted in my Catholic faith while studying other religions? Is it bad to study other religions? I do not consider yoga a religion in itself. – M.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Your intentions certainly sound noble. The world can use a little more unity, in the right ways.

To get involved in interfaith issues actually takes a lot of know-how. Unless a Catholic knows her faith really well, it can be risky to act as some kind of mediator with other religions. Even the Vatican is careful to send well-trained theologians into ecumenical or interfaith gatherings. Serious interfaith dialogue requires solid formation.

It is admirable that you want to be a unifier of sorts. But the truth is, a lot of other religions have elements that simply aren’t compatible with the Catholic faith. There is no middle ground on many issues.

In the case of Islam, for instance, some prominent voices in the Church speak more in terms of intercultural dialogue rather than interreligious dialogue. There are many areas where neither we nor the Muslims could reach common ground without jettisoning our respective bedrock beliefs.

As for yoga: while some of its body postures and breathing exercises are morally neutral, the heart of yoga is very much rooted in a non-Christian belief system (see Michelle Arnold’s “The Trouble With Yoga“).

So teaching yoga to others who aren’t firm in their Christian faith could inadvertently prepare them to start absorbing the non-Christian ideas behind the exercises.

If you want to learn about other faiths (not a bad thing in itself), you might want to do it with the aid of solid Catholic teachers. This can help you understand your own faith better. Peter Kreeft has written from a Catholic perspective on Buddhism and Hinduism. Another useful resource could be this book by my friend and colleague Father John Bartunek: Spiritual but not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World.

But again, it might be better to leave the work of interfaith (and intercultural) movements to specialists.

One last consideration: You mention that “we don’t need to be separated but can have different understandings of the belief in God.”

It is good to recall that Jesus’ great commission to his followers was, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Jesus doesn’t ask us to simply live side-by-side with people who have radically distinct beliefs about God. Rather, Jesus wants us to help draw all people to him — the way and the truth and the life.

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“Ask a Priest: Why Do We Say Catholicism Is the One, True Faith?”

Q: I am a pious Catholic who struggles to square my faith with what I know about humanity. Throughout human history, countless different religions have existed, most long before the beginning of Christianity, and even today Christianity exists alongside a myriad of other religions throughout the world (Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Druidism, Wicca, etc.), the believers of whom adhere to their respective faiths as strongly as Christians do to theirs. And even among Christians, lots of unique perspectives exist, from Protestants to Catholics to Orthodox Christians to Mormons to Episcopalians to Quakers to Mennonites to Seventh-day Adventists, and so many more. That said, considering the enormous multitude of other religions that exist, on top of the mountain of religions that existed before, all of which claim to be the one, true faith, how can we say that our religion, Roman Catholicism, is the one, true faith? I believe it wholeheartedly, yet at the same time I can’t fathom it in the slightest. – G.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Catholics believe we have the one, true faith because it is what was revealed by Jesus Christ, whom we acknowledge as the Son of God. And God cannot deceive us.

Why we do believe Jesus is God? Because he rose from the death as he foretold. Because the Church he established is still with us in recognizable form.

He appointed Peter as the rock on which the Church was built (see Matthew 16:18). The Pope is the successor of Peter.

Christ ordered his disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them” (Matthew 28:19). That is what the Church aspires to do.

Christ gave his disciples the power to absolve from sins. “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:23). This is what the Church does in the sacrament of confession.

Christ gave his very self in the Eucharist at the last supper, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). That is what the Mass is: a celebration of the Eucharist in memory of Jesus.

Moreover, Catholicism has airtight coherence. And it connects all the dots.

It teaches that we have the image of God in us – this helps explain our intellects and our wills.

It teaches that we are body and soul together – this helps explains how we can be affected by our physical state and yet transcend it, through our intellect and imagination and will.

It teaches that we inherit original sin – a damaged human nature – which explains why we are so inclined to sin. Yet we pine for the true, the good, the beautiful. We want to hope – and we can hope, because of the redemption won for us by Jesus and by the mercy he extends to us when we repent.

Now, you mention those other religions and how much people believe in them. Other religions can certainly have glimmers of the truth.

Buddhism, for instance, isn’t totally wrong when it links desire and suffering. We as Catholics recognize that unchecked desires – greed, lust, etc. – can indeed bring suffering. But we also recognize that not all desires are bad.

(Two quick asides: Among other faiths, Judaism is a special case, since it was preparation for what God wanted to fully reveal in Christ. Also, Roman Catholicism is one way of referring to the Roman rite. There are more than 20 other rites in the Church, all of which are as Catholic as the Roman rite.)

You mention how many folks for so many centuries have adhered to some of their other religions. That is a reminder of how blessed we are as Catholics to have the faith that we do.

But there is a price attached to that gift: We have a duty to evangelize others. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). If there are still so many folks who don’t know about Christ and his teachings, the blame is partly on us.

For critiques of other faiths, you might look at Peter Kreeft’s site or the Catholic Answers site. And for a history of human religious activity along with a creative approach to answering the question of what really separates all the religions, you might enjoy a book by my colleague, Father John Bartunek: Spiritual but Not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World.

And remember, Jesus prayed for his followers, “that they may all be one” (John 17:21). He brought one message and established one Church, meant to take in all the nations. Which Church does that sound like?

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“Ask a Priest: Is It OK to Explore Other Religions?”

Q: What does the Bible say about exploring other religions? I don’t want to put it out like I’m questioning God and his glory, but I’m curious as to what else is out there. And I’ve also realized my willingness to hear about others and their faith. I just want to know if this is normal and if the Bible speaks on this at all? – K.C.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: The Old Testament certainly dissuaded the Israelites from getting involved in the pagan cults around them. Messing with pagan religions brought immense problems to Israel.

Yet, Our Lord himself was willing to enter into dialogue with the Samaritan women (John 4), whose own beliefs differed from the Judaism of her day.

Catholics aren’t absolutely excluded from studying other religions. Various Catholic scholars, for instance, have become experts on Islam and Buddhism and other religions.

The important thing here is that you don’t expose yourself to things that will make you doubt your own faith. Is there a reason you are “curious as to what else is out there”? As Catholics we have an obligation to protect and nourish the gift of faith.

If you feel compelled to study other religions, it might be good to do so through the works of Catholic writers who are solid in their own faith and who can put things in perspective.

A few examples: Inside Islam, 111 Questions on Islam, On Islam, “Comparing Christianity and Islam,” “Comparing Christianity and Buddhism,” and “Comparing Christianity and Hinduism.”

The Catechism gives perspective on other faiths. Two numbers are worth quoting here:

No. 843. The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as “a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life.”

No. 844. In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them: “Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.”

Also helpful might be a forthcoming book from my colleague Father Bartunek, “Spiritual but not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World.”

I hope some of this helps.

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“Ask a Priest: Why Have Other Religions Been Around So Long?”

Q: I am a young man who is interested in developing my faith. I wish nothing more than to be a devout Catholic. However, recently I have been questioning many aspects of Catholic theology and Christology. If the true Christian God has been ever-present in the world, why do other religions such as Hinduism predate Judaism and Christianity? If God is of an all-knowing nature, did he know that man would sin when he initiated creation? If so, why would God create a being that he knew would ultimately fail him? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Why was there a requirement for sacrifice? In other words, if Jesus died to pay for our sins, who is getting paid? Do people who are exposed to Christianity and still reject it, go to hell? Do people who don’t encounter the word of God go to hell? Why do these people exist in the first place? – P.V.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: It is good that you are serious about your faith. The faith is a great gift of God that we are called to nourish and deepen constantly. This includes the use of our reason. Let me try to address your questions briefly.

Leaving aside the question of whether Hinduism can be said to predate the religion of the Israelites, we could say that God, in his wisdom, revealed himself progressively.

First, he did it through the world around us. We can see the beauty of his handiwork everywhere. He started to reveal himself as a personal God, at a particular time, somewhere in the Middle East. This is when he chose to “enter history” more obviously, so to speak. It is part of his style.

At any rate, the fact that other religions might have predated Judaism simply shows that man has always had a religious impulse. He has always confronted big questions about the universe and himself and the purpose of it all. The early peoples in South Asia were searching for answers to such questions, and Hinduism, a complex phenomenon, emerged as something of an answer.

Did God know that man would sin? Yes. So why would God create a being that would ultimately reject him?

Here we could say that God gave man free will so that man could love God freely. If a person misuses his free will, that’s his fault, not God’s. Just the fact that God created this person is an objective good; indeed, everything the Almighty creates is good. If God only created people who would love him in return, that would imply that God wouldn’t have respected the free will he wanted to give people. Many people use their free will to accept God.

As to why Jesus had to die on the cross, and if he paid for our sins, “who is getting paid?” – let’s say this:

Sin is an offense against an infinitely good God. We, being finite creatures, couldn’t make up on our own for our sins.

It took God himself to make up for that. Hence, Jesus came and suffered. In one sense, it is fitting that the debt of sin was paid somehow, since God’s glory deserves as much. The alternative — to brush off sin as no big deal — wouldn’t have been just. It certainly wouldn’t have edified us, for we might have gone on sinning and not given it a second thought.

That God himself was willing to pay the price for sin is an extraordinary sign of his love for us. Jesus was willing to pay that price, in order that his heavenly Father would get the honor he deserves. There was a balance to be restored in the universe. It’s a bit mysterious, no doubt.

Will people who are exposed to Christianity and reject it, go to hell? They might, depending on their motives and a lot of other factors, some of which are known to God alone. Let’s not forget Jesus’ warning: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).

Then there are your last questions: Will people who do not encounter the word of God go to hell? And why do these people exist in the first place?

People who do not encounter the word of God are not damned automatically. The Church teaches that people who have never heard of Christ or the Gospel can reach heaven if they follow their conscience and try to live a good life. You could find this in part No. 16 of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium.

Whole books could be written to respond to your questions. For your own studies you might find it helpful to go through the Youth Catechism, or YouCat; the Catechism of the Catholic Church; or Frank Sheed’s “Theology for Beginners.”

In the meantime, I hope these short answers help point you in the right direction.

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“Ask a Priest: Is the Spirit Behind Non-Christian Religions?”

Q: Can you say something about the Second Vatican Council and the “Nostra Aetate” document (on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions), in the light of, for example 1 John 4? This is very much a stumbling block for Protestants to come into the Church (as well as for me). Is the Spirit behind other world religions, like Islam or Hinduism, that don’t recognize Jesus as savior? Why then would we think that salvation is possible within those faiths? We do not dialogue with New Age movements, for example. – D.F.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: As for Nostra Aetate and 1 John 4, I think the key is that non-Christian faiths can contain some elements of truth. Judaism is a special transmitter of truths, of course; but that is a topic best left for another moment.

1 John 4 starts out, “Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Vatican II, speaking of non-Christian faiths, says in No. 16 of its dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, “Whatever good or truth is found among them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.”

The Church indeed teaches that salvation is possible for non-Christians. Lumen Gentium continues, “Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life.”

So if a person tries to follow his conscience and live well, he can attain salvation. This salvation still comes through the Church and Christ. No. 846 of the Catechism reaffirms that there is no salvation outside the Church — and so, the ordinary means for salvation remain faith in Christ and receiving the sacraments. For this reason the Church continues to engage energetically in works of evangelization.

Could we say, then, the Spirit is behind these other world religions? To the extent that they embrace truth and to the extent they lead their followers on a sincere journey closer to the Creator, we could say that the Spirit is at work in them, but only indirectly (in other words, these religions didn’t come from the Holy Spirit) and in spite of their false or incomplete teachings. To the extent that their doctrines contradict what Jesus has revealed about God, creation, the human family and salvation, we definitely can say that they are not the work of the Holy Spirit.

It is good to remember, too, that not all religions are on the same level. Each has to be approached in a particular way. Many people seem to think that all religions are basically the same, simply because they all try to answer the same questions about the deeper meaning of life and what happens after death. But this view is hard to defend, given the profound differences in the answers the religions give.

And lest anyone think the Church naïve about embracing everything as praiseworthy, Lumen Gentium warns, “But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator.”

Here, too, it helps to remember that not everything that thinks of itself as a religion is worthy of the same serious attention.

New Age could fall into this category. In some ways, it rehashes old heresies. But then, even old heresies tended somehow to be rooted in the truth. It is just that they took a wrong turn and exaggerated or misunderstood a certain point and then moved into heretical ground.

While we should still try to evangelize people who are caught up in New Age, I don’t think the Church will be try to dialogue with New Agers the way that it might dialogue with Muslims. New Age is more of a passing phenomenon, with little in the way of a core of beliefs, even if its basic ideas resurface in another form in the future.

(For more reading, see “Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian reflection on the ‘New Age.'”)

As for the difficulty of non-Catholic Christians in this whole area, it is good to remember that some of the prominent figures in the Gospels were neither Jewish nor obvious disciples of Jesus. Think of the magi who journeyed to Bethlehem, or the Roman centurion whom Jesus praised (“Not even in Israel have I found such faith” [Luke 7:9]). Yet they had important roles in the Gospels. So there is a precedent for “non-believers” to have a role in God’s plan of salvation.

In any case, the Church has no intention of compromising its proclamation of Jesus as savior. For further reading see the document “Dominus Iesus.” I hope some of this helps.

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“Ask a Priest: What If My Friend’s Kin Wouldn’t Accept a Hindu In-law?”

Q Hi, I’m from India and I’m a Hindu. I’m in love with this Christian girl. She also loves me. But whenever I ask her if we will get together, she says it won’t happen. It’s because of her family. They wouldn’t be happy to hear of an interreligious marriage. She hasn’t told her about this. But she says that they will say “no,” and I do believe her. She is from a big family and even if her parents agree, her relatives won’t be satisfied. She fears all these. The thing is that, I love her so much that I can’t think about living without her. If this marriage won’t happen, well then, clearly this is an example of a situation where religion is separating people. I believe that religions are meant to unite people, not separate them. Please do help me find a solution. Thank you. – A.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: You are discovering that religion can, in fact, be a big source of separation and tension.

Religion (at least from the Christian perspective) is about God, first and foremost. He is at the center of our lives. Religion is not about ignoring differences in belief for the sake of “peace.”

Now, we believe that God revealed certain things about himself; most importantly, he sent his Son Jesus to suffer and die for our redemption. I can respect that not everyone believes that. For it does take faith for a person to accept Christ.

The complication with an interreligious marriage is when a wife believes one thing and the husband believes something very different. This can lead to very difficult marriages. After all, after the glow of the honeymoon ends, a husband and a wife need to journey together through hard times as well as good times. And if each one of them believes differently as regards where life’s meaning is to be found, that can make for a very, very rough journey.

For now, it seems that you might have to face the reality that your friend’s family would not be happy with an interreligious marriage. This could be the source of lifelong conflict and tension.

It is good to recognize, however, that religion can be a great source of unity. It probably helps to unite your friend’s family, just as it might help to unite your family.

It is also good to recognize that marriage has a strong communal dimension. It doesn’t just involve the man and woman. It involves the whole network of each person’s family and friends.

Certainly it might be difficult to lose this young woman. But perhaps it might be good to think in terms of the long run. Would you and she really be happy, if there was a lot of unresolvable tension over religion among the wider family? Then, too, there is the chance that your children might be confused about religion if they see mom and dad with very different faiths.

I can’t offer any easy solutions, short of your converting to Christianity. But that is something you should only do out of conviction, not convenience.

Perhaps this whole situation is something you and your friend need to speak about more. It sounds as though you and she will have to make a decision sooner than later. Count on my prayers.

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Alex Kucera

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Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.

In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.

Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.

From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.

Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!