{"id":22756,"date":"2025-09-12T08:43:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franciscansusa.org\/?p=22756"},"modified":"2025-09-12T08:46:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:46:01","slug":"living-the-spirit-of-nostra-aetate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franciscansusa.org\/es\/living-the-spirit-of-nostra-aetate\/","title":{"rendered":"Vivir el esp\u00edritu de Nostra Aetate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Living the Spirit of Nostra Aetate<\/em>:
\nAn Indian Catholic\u2019s Journey of Faith, Dialogue, and Shared Humanity<\/h4>\n

By friar John Pozhathuparambil, OFM Conv., Director of Campus Ministry, Bellarmine University<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we mark the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate<\/em>, the Vatican II declaration that reshaped the Catholic Church\u2019s relationship with non-Christian religions, I find myself reflecting not on theory, but on life itself\u2014on my childhood village in India, where faith was not a dividing line but a common language.<\/p>\n

India, my homeland, is predominantly Hindu, with nearly 80% of its population practicing Hinduism. And yet, this land has long been a tapestry woven with many threads\u2014Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism, and more\u2014all interlaced in ways that are both beautiful and deeply human. It is here that I learned what Nostra Aetate<\/em> taught the world: that every religion contains truths that point to the divine, and that our shared search for meaning binds us more than our differences divide us.<\/p>\n

I often say that each religion has its experts\u2014its teachers of wisdom. If you want to understand hospitality, turn to Hinduism. It is a tradition that has welcomed others to Indian soil and shared its soul through openness and grace. If you seek compassion, look to Buddhism, where empathy and inner peace are central teachings. And if you desire to learn about love\u2014love that embraces, forgives, and uplifts\u2014I would direct you to Christianity.<\/p>\n

In my village, we lived this interreligious dialogue long before I knew the word for it. On Christmas morning, our Hindu neighbors would not cook, knowing food would be coming from our home. On Onam, my mother didn\u2019t cook either, because the feast would come from theirs. Boundaries faded in the face of celebration. I still remember the day I skipped church, and it wasn\u2019t my father who reminded me\u2014it was our Hindu neighbor who asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t it Sunday today?\u201d That moment taught me something profound: faith is not just personal; it\u2019s communal. It\u2019s something we carry together, and something others help us carry.<\/p>\n

In school, we learned stories from Hindu mythology that shaped my moral imagination. At times, I feel I know more about Hinduism than many of my Hindu friends. That learning never weakened my own faith\u2014it deepened it. Our festivals were celebrated across boundaries. Hindus attended our church feasts, donated generously, and joined in devotions to saints like St. Anthony of Padua. Likewise, we joined temple festivities, and our village pastor was seen as everyone\u2019s pastor.<\/p>\n

When I entered seminary at 16, the entire village\u2014across religious lines\u2014rejoiced. Because in our way of life, a life dedicated to God, in any form, was something worth celebrating. It was in this context that I came to understand what Nostra Aetate articulates so clearly: that religions are not obstacles to human flourishing, but pathways. The document states, \u201cThe Church\u2026 exhorts her sons [and daughters], that through dialogue and collaboration\u2026 they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.\u201d I saw this lived in every shared meal, every joint celebration, every neighbor\u2019s blessing.<\/p>\n

Later, as a Franciscan, I felt I had come home once more. St. Francis of Assisi spoke the same language my village did\u2014a language of peace, unity, and reverence for all life. He sought the divine in creation, in the stranger, even in the so-called enemy. When he met the Sultan in a spirit of peace, it was not a political gesture\u2014it was a gospel one. And in India, our Franciscan communities continued that legacy. I recall how, during a time of unrest between Hindus and Muslims, our formation house opened its doors to shelter women and children. At our provincial house, we hosted annual interreligious gatherings, not just to talk, but to listen, learn, and share life together.<\/p>\n

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Friar John Pozhathuparambil, OFM Conv., stands with Archbishop Shelton Fabre, the Bellarmine Campus Ministry team, and university leadership\u2014partners in fostering interfaith dialogue, unity, and spiritual growth across the campus community.<\/p><\/div>\n

When I moved to Bellarmine University in the United States in 2010, I was heartened to find the same spirit alive. The Campus Ministry bore a simple inscription: Many Faiths, One Ministry. It wasn\u2019t just a slogan. It was an embodied practice. I started Satsang\u2014a gathering of people from all traditions to explore our differences and our shared yearnings. We visited mosques and temples together. We placed sacred texts from multiple religions around a round table, with their symbols, as a sign of our shared journey. It was a visual proclamation that we are all seekers in the same ocean of grace.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite stories from my village is of a baby fish asking its mother, \u201cWhere is the ocean?\u201d The mother replies, \u201cWe are in it, always.\u201d Just like that fish, we often search for the divine, unaware that we are already immersed in it. Every tradition, in its own way, tries to name that ocean. My upbringing, Franciscan spirituality, and Nostra Aetate<\/em> all remind me: the point is not whose name is correct, but that we recognize the sacredness that surrounds and sustains us.<\/p>\n

Sixty years ago, Nostra Aetate<\/em> began a revolution in religious thought\u2014not by building something new, but by returning to something ancient: the wisdom of humility, reverence, and shared humanity. My story is just one among many, but I believe it echoes the spirit of that document. May we continue to walk together\u2014many faiths, one search, one sacred journey.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vivir el esp\u00edritu de Nostra Aetate: el viaje de fe, di\u00e1logo y humanidad compartida de un cat\u00f3lico indio Por fray John Pozhathuparambil, OFM Conv., Director del Ministerio del Campus, Universidad de Bellarmine Al conmemorar el 60 aniversario de Nostra Aetate, la declaraci\u00f3n del Vaticano II que reform\u00f3 la relaci\u00f3n de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica con las religiones no cristianas, me encuentro reflexionando no...","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-fall-newsletter-many-faiths-one-ministry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t