Image: Westminster Interfaith
Source: Westminster Interfaith
Tuesday 28 October marked the 60th Anniversary of the ground-breaking Second Vatican Council document on interreligious dialogue, Nostra Aetate. To celebrate this occasion, more than 100 people of faith from parishes, local interfaith forums and community organisations gathered for an evening in Farm Street Church, Mayfair.
In his Foreword to the evening, Cardinal Nichols commended a new translation of Nostra Aetate, undertaken by Fr Michael Barnes SJ, which ‘helps us to realise our own calling to dialogue, “in our time”‘.
Cardinal Nichols also wrote that ‘2025 marks not only this significant anniversary, but also a Jubilee Year, to which our beloved late Holy Father gave the theme “Pilgrims into Hope”. Tonight, you will hear how interreligious dialogue might help us to become pilgrims, journeying into hope’.
‘A Journey into Hope: Celebrating Nostra Aetate’ began with a welcome from Fr Michael Barnes, who spoke of the significance of the document and pointed to the many anniversary celebrations happening across the world, including those in the Vatican with Pope Leo.
Bishop James Curry then addressed the gathering, reflecting on the role of hope in the Catholic Church, something that ‘directs our gaze heavenwards, reminding us of the radical insufficiency of this ever-changing world’. Bishop James pointed to those dialogues that Nostra Aetate made possible, namely: Pope St John Paul II’s interreligious gathering for Peace at Assisi in 1986; Pope Benedict’s meeting with religious leaders during his visit to the UK in 2010 and the transformation of the Church’s relationship with the Jewish community.
Bishop James also praised the work of Westminster Interfaith, who organised the celebration, and have worked for over 40 years in the Diocese to deepen the Catholic Church’s relationship to people of faith. Quoting from Pope Benedict’s interreligious gathering in the UK in 2010, Bishop James reaffirmed the Diocese’s commitment to dialogue: ‘Let me assure you that the Catholic Church follows the path of engagement and dialogue out of a genuine sense of respect for you and your beliefs. Catholics, both in Britain and throughout the world, will continue to work to build bridges of friendship to other religions, to heal past wrongs and to foster trust between individuals and communities’.
Representatives from the Bahai Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism were invited to share readings on the theme of hope. The evening concluded with a reflection by James Holland, Coordinator of Ecumenism and Westminster Interfaith, where hope was compared to a flickering candle, something which illuminates our paths and guides our steps. In a moment of silence, the congregation shared a light of hope. As they lit each other’s candles, the dark night was conquered by a warming, peaceful glow.
It was, for the Diocese, a celebration of the fruits of these past 60 years, and a commitment to look ahead joyfully, using dialogue to embark once again on a journey into hope.
The final event in Westminster Interfaith’s ‘A Journey into Hope’ series, Examining Nostra Aetate, will be a lecture given by Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald M Afr OBE on Monday 9 March 2026 at St Mary’s University, Twickenham.
For more details and to reserve your place, please see: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-journey-into-hope-examining-nostra-aetate-tickets-1513226123069?aff=oddtdtcreator
Tags: Nostra Aetate, Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, Fr Michael Barnes, Interfaith, Westminster Interfaith, Farm Street Church, James Holland, Bahai Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism
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