CRA Endorses The Sydney Statement

Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) endorses The Sydney Statement, an interfaith charter developed by Youth PoWR (Parliament of the World’s Religions), supporting the call of The Sydney Statement to “build bridges between believers from different religions.”

This is a timely statement, as in a world facing a global pandemic, wars and conflict, immense poverty and an environment crisis, Pope Francis has urged us to “think of ourselves more and more as a single family dwelling in a common home.”

CRA President, Peter Carroll FMS, confirmed that CRA is committed to actively encouraging its members to undertake The Sydney Statement’s five forms of Interfaith Dialogue, which align with those encouraged by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue: 

  • a Dialogue of Life by which members live out their Catholic faith in a fraternal spirit with all people of faith;

  • a Dialogue of Action whereby the prophetic voice of religious unites with the voices of all people of faith on common issues of justice;

  • a Dialogue of Knowledge through which members will respectfully share the tenants of their Catholic faith, while also learning about the faith of others;

  • a Dialogue of Religious Experience by which members will invite others to learn about their religious heritages and accept invitations to do likewise; and

  • Intra-faith Dialogue through which members continually engage with and learn from one another and other members of the Church.

Br Peter said, “From Vatican II, Nostra Aetate teaches us that although religions may differ from us in many ways, they still ‘reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.’ It is in this spirit that we commit to engaging in dialogue with other religions not only in Sydney, but across our multicultural, multifaith Australia, a rich diversity also seen in the schools that are run by or follow the charism of Catholic religious congregations.”

Anne Walker, National Executive Director of CRA comments “many of our young people (and older people) are being challenged by crises that are coming to light both within our religious traditions and globally. It is deeply heartening to see the energy and commitment of younger people of faith to build bridges for unity.”

CRA thanks all those involved in the development of The Sydney Statement especially Youth PoWR, Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations and Western Sydney University. 

As a means of expressing a genuine solidarity amongst all peoples of faith CRA encourages its members, and all Catholics, to read, engage with, sign up to and commit to the values, principles and commitments of The Sydney Statement.

www.thesydneystatement.org.au invites believers from all religions and all people of goodwill to sign up to its values, principles and commitments. 

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Sylvia MacRitchie-Hook | E: comms@catholicreligious.org.au | M: 0410 644 356