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Handout #284 |
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Vatican II, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions |
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(1) All men form but one community. This is so because
all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth;
and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence,
evident goodness and saving designs extend to all men against the day when
the elect are gathered together in the holy city which is illuminated by the
glory of God and in whose splendor all peoples will walk.
Men look to their different religions for an answer to the unsolved fiddles of human existence. The problems that weigh heavily on the hearts of men are the same today as the ages past. What is man? What is the meaning and purpose of life? What is upright behavior, and what is sinful? Where does suffering originate, and what end does it serve? How can genuine happiness be found? What happens at death? What is judgment? What reward follows death? And finally, what is the ultimate mystery, beyond human explanation, which embraces our entire existence, from which we take our origin and towards which we tend? ... The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. |
