'Meeting God in Friend and Stranger' is the Bishops' 2010 teaching document on Interreligious Dialogue.
Meeting God in Friend and Stranger reminds Catholics that they are called by their Baptism to engage in dialogue with others, and specifically with people of other religions. This is part of the Church’s task of continuing the dialogue that God engages with His Church, and of reading the signs of His will in our times.
The document stresses that this dialogue is not restricted to academics, but takes place where everyday life is shared in an atmosphere of respect and openness. Shared experiences of worship – where the worship takes the form not of coming to pray together, but of coming together to pray, is also a valuable aspect of dialogue, and one which meets appropriately the desire to share occasions of grief, joy and remembrance.
A leaflet from the Archdiocese of Birmingham summarising Meeting God in Friend and Stranger:
A leaflet from the Diocese of Leeds summarising Meeting God in Friend and Stranger:
A short PowerPoint summary presentation avoiding technical terms:
A PowerPoint summary of Meeting God in Friend and Stranger for a detailed presentation:
This PDF contains a chapter-by-chapter guide to the teaching laid out in Meeting God in Friend and Stranger, with a short summary of each chapter, bullet points for a quicker overview, and a glossary of the terms used. This is supplemented by questions for discussion, as well as by ideas for action. For each chapter, there are also quotations from the original document to lead the reader back to it.
Below you will find links to individual chapters of the Meeting God in Friend and Stranger Working Materials for easier printing.
'In Their Own Words' is a podcast series where followers of the world's nine major religions talk about their faith.
