In situations where there are a variety of rich religious traditions, interreligious dialogue will be the main form of evangelisation and may be the only way to exercise mission, says the General Mission Secretary of the Divine Word Missionaries, Fr Lazar Stanislaus SVD.

Fr Lazar, who was in Australia recently for the International Mission Symposium, says the link between interreligious dialogue and mission can be found in the wisdom of the Second Vatican Council.

“Vatican II was the first Council in the history of Church Councils to speak positively of other religions and to have good cooperation with them,” he says.

“The document, Nostra Aetate and other documents of the council gave positive signs regarding the value of other religions and the importance of having dialogue with them.

“The post-Conciliar documents have further taken the arguments of dialogue with people of other faiths as a dimension of mission and articulated ‘Inter-religious dialogue is a part of the Church’s evangelizing mission’ (RM 55).”

Understanding the central role of dialogue moves us from a donor-mission mentality to one of recognition, hope and relationship, he says.

Fr Lazar was ordained in 1985 and then worked in missions in Andhra Pradesh in India for six years, particularly with youth. After this he completed his Licentiate and doctorate in Missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome .He was the Director of Ishvani Kendra – Institute of Missiology and Communications in Pune and served one term as the President of the International Association of Catholic Missiologists. He was the Provincial Superior of India Mumbai Province for five years and has contributed many articles to different journals and edited books. Fr Lazar gives seminars and courses in Missiology, Dalit Theology and related subjects.

As General Mission Secretary he is tasked with assisting the Superior General and his council in planning and coordinating all the SVD’s missionary endeavours, which includes mission animation and support of Provincial Mission Secretaries, as well as overseeing the support of and care for missionaries around the world.

Fr Lazar says his vision of mission is that justice and peace will be the norm in every society, and there will be equality, freedom and human dignity for every individual in society.

“Thus, our mission is to historize the Reign of God,” he says. “Through our words and actions, we bring this Reign among the people and it has to become their history.

“This vision is not utopia, but topia, meaning that this can be done, inherited and lived by all of us. And, as the Church and believers in Jesus Christ, this is our responsibility, to work towards justice and peace together with all peoples, religions, cultures and nations.”

During his stay in Australia he visited Melbourne, Central Australia and Sydney and delivered a series of mission animation presentations for SVD confreres and SSpS Sisters.

He says he was struck by the intercultural reality of the SVD parishes he visited, as well as the high level of lay involvement in parish life.

Fr Lazar says he was moved by the special nature of community life at Santa Teresa in Central Australia.

“Our parish in this place is certainly a witness to being with the indigenous people and empowering them,” he says.

While in Australia, Fr Lazar showcased two recently published books he edited with Martin Ueffing SVD, entitled Intercultural Living Vol. 1 and Intercultural Mission Vol 2, featuring 44 articles written by SVDs, non-SVDs, religious men and women, lay men and women, and people from various denominations.

The first volume explains the richness of intercultural living in the lives of missionaries who live in communities which consist of various cultures and nations.

The second volume explains the challenges to mission in the ever changing scenario of the interaction of various cultures, especially in the context of globalisation, fundamentalism, postmodernism and poverty.

PHOTOS: Fr Lazar is pictured top right celebrating Mass with AUS Province confreres during his recent trip to Australia; and bottom left, during the International Mission Symposium in Melbourne.