The Equalization of Religions and the Troublesome Abu Dhabi Declaration – Crisis Magazine

The Abu Dhabi Declaration suggests an equalization of religions, a problem that has plagued interreligious dialogue since the beginning.

Today the “Abrahamic Family House” in Abu Dhabi, UAE opens for visitors. This multi-religious site hosts a mosque, synagogue, and a church, and was created as a result of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, co-authored by Pope Francis and prominent Sunni Islamic leader Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. As the Abrahamic Family House opens, it is instructive to look back at a few of the fundamental problems with its founding document. Below is an excerpt adapted from my book, Deadly Indifference: How the Church Lost Her Mission and How We Can Reclaim It.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, interreligious dialogue between Catholics and Muslims has explored ways to prevent religiously-inspired violence. Many local and national interreligious groups have released joint statements condemning violence and promoting dialogue as a means to peace. In February 2019 the pope himself also released such a statement, co-authored by Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.

Titled A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, the text urged “all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together so that [this document] may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters.”¹ Signed in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, this statement is often called the “Abu Dhabi Declaration.”

In many ways, the Abu Dhabi Declaration is a standard-fare interreligious dialogue statement in keeping with all interreligious documents produced in the wake of Vatican II. Pope Francis said, “I openly reaffirm this: from the Catholic point of view the Declaration does not move one millimetre away from the Second Vatican Council,”² and while some might say that is an exaggeration, the document does contain typical interreligious dialogue language found in the Vatican II documents and that has been commonly used since then. For example, the desire to foster “mutual respect” has been a frequent theme of these statements since the 1960s, and it’s front and center in the Abu Dhabi Declaration.

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The Equalization of Religions and the Troublesome Abu Dhabi Declaration – Crisis Magazine