World Religions: An Introduction

When non-Catholic friends and co-workers know that you are Catholic, they often ask frank questions like “Why do Catholics worship Mary?” or “Why do you have idols in your church?” Your response is probably something like, “We Catholics don't do that - it would be completely against our beliefs!”

According to the Vatican, in 2009, there were almost 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. You would think that with so many of us, misunderstandings would be minimal. Apparently not. But those experiences of having our own religion misunderstood should help us to realize that we have a responsibility to be informed about other religions in the world. After all, we don’t want to make those same mistakes.

When we look at various world religions, we learn that, first of all, we have much in common. Secondly, if we ever hope to see an end to the world's religious conflicts, we must understand and respect the beliefs and practices of others.

For guidance, we look to the teachings of the Church, especially Vatican II. Almost 50 years later, we're still trying to absorb it all. While some major writings have received a lot of attention, some of the shorter documents remain virtually unknown. One of them was (and is) a milestone in Catholic thought. Its title is not very exciting: The Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, also known by its Latin title, Nostra Aetate.

Nostra Aetate says that the Church, “In her task of promoting unity and love among men … considers above all … what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.” Nostra Aetate recognizes that people come to various religions for answers: Who are we? What is the meaning of our life? Why is there suffering? How do we find true happiness? What happens after death? Where did we come from, and where we are going?

The document goes on to say that, from ancient times until today, various peoples have perceived that there is a “hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history.” For some peoples, this has led to the recognition of a Supreme Being, and filled their lives with a profound religious sense.

While Pope John XXIII wanted to have the Council make a strong statement about the positive nature of Judaism and Christianity's historical ties, the final document came to include other non-Christian traditions as well. We will spend the next two weeks looking at some of the world religions, what we have in common, and what all Catholics should know about them.