Toward Religious Pluralism and Catholic Diversity: Catholic Involvement in the 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions

Abstract:The century that framed the Chicago Parliaments of Religions (1893–1993) witnessed the Catholic Church's adaptation to changes within itself and the world. Following the Second Vatican Council, the Church showed an increasing openness to other religions. Its exclusivist position, seen in the 1893 parliament, yielded to a more inclusivist approach by 1993. Catholic involvement in the centennial parliament, however, moved beyond the exclusivistinclusivist spectrum to a more pluralist framework while portraying the broad spectrum of its internal diversity and thus testing the capacity and elasticity of its fundamental unity. Today the three approaches to other religions—exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist—are found within the Church's catholicity and theological diversity.