Table Of ContentInterreligious Friendship after Nostra Aetate
Interreligious Studies in Theory and Practice
Series Editors: Aimee Light, Jennifer Peace, Or Rose,
Madhuri Yadlapati, and Homayra Ziad
Palgrave’s new series, Interreligious Studies in Theory and Practice, seeks to cap-
ture the best of the diverse contributions to the rapidly expanding field of inter-
religious and interfaith studies. While the series includes a diverse set of titles,
they are all united by a common vision: Each volume advocates—explicitly or
implicitly—for interreligious engagement, even if this involves a critique of the
limits of this work as it is currently defined or embodied. Each volume provides
models and resources—textual, theological, pedagogic, or practical—for inter-
religious dialogue, study, or action. The series models a commitment to religious
pluralism by including books that begin from diverse religious perspectives. This
does not preclude the publication of books dedicated to a specific religion, but the
overall series reflects a balance of various faiths and perspectives.
Also in the series:
Dialogue for Interreligious Understanding: Strategies for the Transformation of
Culture-Shaping Institutions
by Leonard Swidler
Interreligious Friendship after Nostra Aetate
Edited by James L. Fredericks and Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier
Interreligious Friendship after
Nostra Aetate
Edited by
James L. Fredericks and Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier
interreligious friendship after nostra aetate
Copyright © James L. Fredericks and Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier, 2015.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-47210-6
All rights reserved.
Fredericks, James L. “Masao Abe: A Spiritual Friendship.” Spiritus 3.2
(2003), 219–230. © 2003 Johns Hopkins University Press.
Reprinted with permission of Johns Hopkins University Press.
First published in 2015 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-50112-0 ISBN 978-1-137-47211-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137472113
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Interreligious friendship after Nostra aetate / edited by James
L. Fredericks, Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier.
pages cm.—(Interreligious studies in theory and practice)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Catholic Church—Relations. 2. Christianity and other religions.
3. Friendship—Religious aspects. 4. Interpersonal relations—Religious
aspects. 5. Vatican Council (2nd : 1962–1965 : Basilica di San Pietro
in Vaticano). Declaratio de ecclesiae habitudine ad religiones
non-Christianas. I. Fredericks, James L. (James Lee), 1951– editor.
II. Sayuki Tiemeier, Tracy, 1975– editor.
BX1784.I57 2014
261.2—dc23 2014032488
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: February 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Dana, Lauren, Olivia, and Xavier
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Contents
Introduction 1
James L. Fredericks
1 Learning in the Presence of the Other: My Friendship
with Sara Lee 9
Mary C. Boys, SNJM
2 Michael Signer and the Language of Friendship 21
John C. Cavadini
3 The Blessing of Sitting Together 31
Elena Procario-Foley
4 Faith and Friendship 49
David B. Burrell, CSC
5 Friendship: Cultivating Theological Virtue 59
Marianne Farina, CSC, and Masarrat Khan
6 Ties That Bind: Interfaith Friend, Interfaith Kin 75
Rita George-Tvrtković
7 Rasoul, My Friend and Brother 85
Bradley J. Malkovsky
8 Study and Friendship: Intersections throughout
an Academic Life 101
Francis X. Clooney, SJ
9 Jivanmukti, Freedom, and a Cassette Recorder: Friendship
beyond Friendship in the Tradition of Advaita Vedanta 111
Reid B. Locklin
10 Toddlers and Teas: Parenting in a Multireligious World 125
Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier and Mughda Yeolekar
viii ConTenTS
11 With New Eyes to See: Changing the Perception of Self
and Other through Interreligious Friendship 139
Karen B. Enriquez
12 Masao Abe: A Spiritual Friendship 155
James L. Fredericks
13 A Friend and Scholar: A Guide on the Way to
Understanding Buddhism 167
Peter C. Phan
14 My Friendship with Rita Gross 175
Rosemary Radford Ruether
15 Interreligious Friendship: A Path to Conversion
for a Catholic Theologian 187
SimonMary Asese Aihiokhai
16 Interreligious Friendship: Symbiosis of Human Relationship
vis-à-vis Religious Differences—A Christian Encounter
with Two African Traditional Religionists 201
Marinus Chijioke Iwuchukwu
Conclusion 215
Mary Margaret Funk, OSB
Notes on Contributors 221
Index 227
Introduction
James L. Fredericks
Fifty years have passed since the promulgation of Nostra Aetate during
the last session of the Second Vatican Council. We can now see that
at least one measure of the greatness of the Declaration on the Relation
of the Church to Non-Christian Religions is the abundance of interreli-
gious friendships it has made possible. The present collection of essays
bears witness to this happy legacy.
When it comes to behind-the-scenes intrigue, international diplo-
matic arm-twisting, theological fisticuffs, personal betrayals, shocking
dishonesty, and downright skullduggery, Nostra Aetate has no equal
among the documents of the Second Vatican Council. However, in the
history of the declaration, one also finds friendships—often courageous
and noble friendships—between Catholics and those who followed other
religious paths. Without a doubt, the Declaration would never have come
into being were it not for the friendships that inspired, nourished, and
sustained those who labored on this council document.
On September 18, 1960, John XXIII and Cardinal Augustin Bea, SJ,
met in the Apostolic Palace. The pope had made this biblical scholar the
head of a Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity, giving it the
vague mandate to help non-Catholic Christians to “follow the work of
the Council.” At that meeting, Bea’s mandate became considerably more
complicated: he was now to facilitate reflection on the church’s under-
standing of the Jewish people.1
The previous June, Pope John had spoken with Jules Isaac (1877–1963),
a French Jew old enough to remember reading Émile Zola’s “J’Accuse . . . !”
on the kiosks of Paris.2 Isaac had lost most of his family in the Holocaust.
After the War, he joined with a small number of Christians and Jews in
Paris to form a movement with friendship as its core: L’Amitié Judeo-
Chrétienne de France—Jewish-Christian Friendship of France. Among
his Catholic friends were Jean Danielou, SJ, and Jacques Maritain. Isaac
was convinced that friendship (amitié) was the starting point from which
