Interreligious dialogue

The Latest

Father Custodio Ballester serves a parish in the Archdiocese of Barcelona, Spain.

Priest battles ‘hate crime’ charges for criticizing Islam

Mar 5, 2024

By Martin Barillas

A Spanish priest is facing up to three years in prison on “hate crime” charges for his heated words about... Read more

The Radha Krishna Temple outside of Lisbon held one-hour tours for WYD pilgrims to learn more about what Hindus believe.

Interreligious events at World Youth Day in Lisbon sparsely attended but ‘useful’

Aug 10, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

Last week at World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, pilgrims had opportunities to learn from and dialogue with people of... Read more

Dome of the Rock with Christian church in foreground in Jerusalem.

Pope Francis underlines ‘universal value’ of Jerusalem in speech to Palestinians

Mar 9, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

The theme of the meeting of the Joint Working Group for Dialogue was the spiritual significance of Jerusalem for Jews,... Read more

Pope Francis meets a Buddhist delegation from Cambodia on Jan. 19, 2023.

Pope Francis discusses ‘ecological conversion’ with Buddhist monks from Cambodia

Jan 19, 2023

By Courtney Mares

The pope defined “ecological conversion” as “true repentance” that leads to the end of “ideologies and practices that are hurtful... Read more

Pope Francis speaking at the general audience on St. Peter's Square, Nov. 9, 2022

Pope Francis: Bahrain trip ‘a new step’ in Christian-Muslim dialogue

Nov 9, 2022

By Hannah Brockhaus

“The first visit of a pope in Bahrain represents a new step on the journey between Christian and Muslim believers... Read more

Pope Francis attending the closing of the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence” with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on Nov. 4, 2022.

Pope Francis urges Muslim-Catholic collaboration for peace during visit to Gulf kingdom of Bahrain

Nov 4, 2022

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis met with Muslim leaders in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Friday, saying Catholics and Muslims alike are... Read more

Pope Francis arriving in Bahrain, Nov. 3, 2022

Pope Francis becomes first pope to visit Bahrain

Nov 3, 2022

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis landed in the Kingdom of Bahrain Thursday, becoming the first pope to visit the Muslim island nation located... Read more

Archbishop Bashar Warda speaking at the R20 Summit in Indonesia, Nov. 2, 2022

Iraqi archbishop calls for courageous dialogue among religions, end to violent persecution

Nov 3, 2022

By AC Wimmer

Addressing the Group of Twenty’s first-ever forum on religion on Nov. 2, Archbishop Bashar Warda drove home the need for... Read more

Pope Francis prays during an interreligious peace appeal at the Colosseum in Rome, Oct. 25, 2022.

‘Let us be free from the nuclear nightmare’: Pope Francis leads peace appeal at Colosseum

Oct 25, 2022

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis raised the spectre of nuclear war at an interreligious appeal for peace at the Colosseum on Tuesday.  Read more

Pope Francis blesses a young boy in the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Bakhdida, Iraq, on March 7, 2021. Photo credits: Vatican Media.

Pope Francis to meet Muslim leaders, small Christian community in Bahrain

Oct 6, 2022

By Hannah Brockhaus

On the first-ever papal visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Pope Francis will close a forum on dialogue, meet with... Read more

Pope Francis speaking at the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Nur-Sultan (Astana), Kazakhstan, Sept. 13–15, 2022.

A ‘supermarket of religions,’ God’s will, and the wisdom of a tweaked declaration

Sep 16, 2022

By AC Wimmer

A sensitive passage in the final declaration of the congress that brought Pope Francis to Kazakhstan Sept. 13–15 appears to... Read more

Discussing on the flight from Kazakhstan to Italy on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, the moral degradation of the West, particularly in relation to the advance of legal euthanasia, Pope Francis said the region has taken the wrong path, and that killing should be left “to the animals.”

Pope Francis: ‘The West has taken the wrong paths’

Sep 15, 2022

By CNA Staff

On the flight from Kazakhstan to Italy on Thursday, Pope Francis discussed the moral degradation of the West, particularly in... Read more

Pope Francis speaking at the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Sept. 15, 2022.

Kazakhstan interreligious congress adopts declaration calling religious pluralism ‘God’s will’

Sep 15, 2022

By Hannah Brockhaus

The congress Pope Francis participated in this week adopted a declaration calling religious pluralism an expression “of the wisdom of... Read more

A young girl at a large outdoor Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Kazakhstan’s capital of Nur-Sultan on Sept. 14, 2022.

Kazakhstan interreligious summit a chance ‘to find common paths for humanity’

Sep 14, 2022

By Carl Bunderson

Participants have called the event an opportunity for encounter and finding common ground. Read more

Pope Francis speaking at the Expo center in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, where he celebrated an outdoor Mass on Sept. 14, 2022.

Pope Francis says his thoughts are with war-torn Ukraine on feast of the Holy Cross

Sep 14, 2022

By Courtney Mares

Speaking at an outdoor Mass in Kazakhstan’s capital on Sept. 14, the pope said he was thinking of “all the... Read more

Pope Francis speaking at the opening and plenary session of the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions at the Palace of Independence in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Sept. 14, 2022

‘Every human being is sacred,’ Pope Francis tells religious leaders in Kazakhstan

Sep 14, 2022

By Hannah Brockhaus

It is the task of religions to remind society of the sacredness of all human life, Pope Francis told leaders... Read more

Pope Francis speaks from the stage of the Qazaq Concert Hall in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Sept 13. 2022. Also onstage is Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Pope Francis arrives in Kazakhstan, urges peace in ‘senseless and tragic war’ in Ukraine

Sep 13, 2022

By Courtney Mares

In a speech to Kazakh civil authorities and diplomats in Nur-Sultan on Sept. 13, the pope said he wanted to... Read more

Archbishop Tomasz Peta

Pope Francis in Kazakhstan: Archbishop explains the pastoral and political impact of visit

Sep 13, 2022

By Justyna Galant

The archbishop of Kazakhstan’s only Catholic archdiocese said the visit of Pope Francis is of unique significance to the country’s... Read more

Pope Francis aboard the papal flight to Kazakhstan, Sept. 13, 2022

Pope Francis on papal plane: ‘I’m always ready to go to China’

Sep 13, 2022

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis told journalists on the papal plane Tuesday that he is ready for the first papal trip to China. Read more

Pope Francis prayed in front of the Salus Populi Romani icon in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the morning of July 22, 2022. He prayed again in front of the icon on Sept. 12, 2022, to entrust his upcoming trip to Kazakhstan to Mary.

Why is Pope Francis going to Kazakhstan? Here’s what he plans to do

Sep 12, 2022

By Jonah McKeown

The pope plans to visit the large, landlocked Asian country — the second pope to do so — Sept. 13–15... Read more