Dialogue Documents and Their Call to Implementation: A Reflection on Statements and Initiatives about Jewish-Catholic and Muslim Catholic Relations (by Elena Dini)

Documents “telling” about dialogue often seem to be much more in the public eye than experiences of lived dialogue. How are dialogue statements calling to a practical implementation? This article guides the reader through some statements that have been issued in the past decades from the Catholic Church and from some Jewish and Muslim leaders addressing the Church and Christian leaders— in particular Catholics—on the theme of interreligious relationships and dialogue. The article particularly focuses on the calls to practical implementation of advice or of suggested theological and social attitudes and mentions some selected initiatives inspired by these documents. The article shows how dialogue documents could be different, responding to a specific context, as well as how multiple levels of actions are needed in order to support dialogical attitudes in our societies.