"Nostra aetate”: Abu Dhabi and “Fratelli tutti”, the good fruits of dialogue (3/4)

“Nostra aetate” profoundly reshaped dialogue between Catholics and Muslims. From John Paul II to Pope Francis, the Holy See has pursued its work of encounter and fraternity. This is the third installment in our series.

It is hard to overstate the impact of the 1965 declaration Nostra aetate on relations between the Catholic Church and the Arab-Muslim world. To grasp this fully, nothing is more helpful than reading the text itself, which presents no dogmatic difficulty. Here is the passage that concerns us directly:

“(…) The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.”

Mapping the “cradle” of Christianity

Between 1985 and 2001, building on this solid doctrinal foundation, Pope John Paul II made a series of striking gestures: his address in Casablanca before 80,000 young Muslims, urging them to “believe together in the one God” (1985); the Assisi prayer for peace with representatives of all religions (1986); the Synod for Lebanon, which included Muslim “fraternal observers” (1995); and his historic visit to Syria and to the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (2001).

In the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI – and above all his successor, Pope Francis – continued the task of spiritually mapping the “cradle” of Christianity, that region where Christian faith is now lived out within a Muslim environment, Lebanon being the notable exception.

It is Pope Francis who has achieved, in terms of interreligious dialogue, the most significant breakthrough, thanks to the Document on Human Fraternity signed in Abu Dhabi (2019) together with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyeb, and to the encyclical Fratelli tutti (2020), which develops its message.

The encyclical states in particular: “Issues of human fraternity and social friendship have always been a concern of mine (…). I have felt particularly encouraged by the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, with whom I met in Abu Dhabi, where we declared that ‘”God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sister’. This was no mere diplomatic gesture, but a reflection born of dialogue and common commitment. The present Encyclical takes up and develops some of the great themes raised in the Document that we both signed. (…) I offer this social Encyclical as a modest contribution to continued reflection, in the hope that in the face of present-day attempts to eliminate or ignore others, we may prove capable of responding with a new vision of fraternity and social friendship that will not remain at the level of words. Although I have written it from the Christian convictions that inspire and sustain me, I have sought to make this reflection an invitation to dialogue among all people of good will.” (Fratelli tutti 5 and 6)

Abrahamic Family House

These principles have since been given tangible form in several initiatives, the most notable being the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. Inaugurated in 2023, the complex brings together a mosque, a church, and a synagogue within a shared space – a venue for education, prayer, and encounter. Yet attitudes have not progressed at the same pace everywhere. Saudi Arabia, for instance, still has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican; the construction of churches and the public celebration of religious services outside diplomatic compounds remains forbidden.

Nostra aetate and the dialogue it has fostered have taken root primarily within Sunni Islam, the majority branch, which accounts for 85 to 90 per cent of Muslims worldwide. Yet the council document’s call for openness is universal. It notably inspired Pope Francis to meet Grand Ayatollah Sistani during his trip to Iraq in 2021. The theme of the visit – “You are all brothers” – echoed the message of Fratelli tutti.