Interreligious dialogue nurtured by Pope John Paul II must continue to evolve under Pope Benedict XVI's papacy or global ethnic and religious conflicts will escalate, said Buddhist and Christian leaders attending an international religious conference at Loyola Marymount University June 3-8.

As one of the first major interreligious meetings since the start of Pope Benedict's pontificate, the seventh International Meeting of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies drew 130 participants from eastern and western faith traditions discussing ways to increase mutual understanding and appreciation.

Conference participants in a June 5 panel offering perspectives on religious dialogue and Pope Benedict expressed both reservations and cautious optimism about the future of interreligious relations. Panelist Rosemary Radford Ruether, a professor at the Pacific School of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, said interreligious dialogue boosted at Vatican II by the "Declaration of the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions" has born enormous fruit.

However, according to Ruether, Pope John Paul II's "Dominus Jesus," a declaration published in August 2000 while the new pope served as head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), conveyed less than a friendly tone toward religions not affirming the salvific universality of Jesus Christ and put a "chill" on interreligious dialogue. "How [Pope Benedict] is going to implement that in his present papacy is still quite unknown," Ruether observed. "That [declaration] may not reflect what he's going to do as pope.

"My own view is there is no way to turn back the clock," Ruether declared. "We either will regress into interreligious violence and hostility, or we will move toward continually developing some kind of mutual respect and mutual appreciation, which is actually the key for any kind of cooperation on international issues."

Dr. John Borelli, Georgetown University Special Assistant for Interreligious Affairs and longtime Vatican observer, called the pope's appointment of San Francisco Archbishop William Levada as his successor in the CDF a positive sign for the continuation of interreligious dialogue. In San Francisco, a city with many Buddhists, Archbishop Levada was accustomed to religious pluralism, noted Borelli. He also cited as a positive sign Pope Benedict's stated priority to advance ecumenism.

Buddhist panelist Taigen Dan Leighton, a GTU professor of Buddhist studies who teaches many Christian seminarians, cited his concerns that the new pope will not be as active as his predecessor in the area of social justice. "As a Buddhist, one of the things I look to the Christians for is help in formulating a social ethic," said Leighton. He also expressed concern that Pope Benedict's wish to revitalize European Catholicism will decrease global interreligious dialogue and outreach. "Part of the joy of dialogue is learning about oneself by comparison," said Leighton.

Father Jim Fredericks, conference program director, asked whether Catholics under the new pontificate would "take seriously" the issue of religious pluralism in the world today. "Are we going to be respectful of that pluralism?" wondered Father Fredericks. "It's not much of an option for the church of the 21st century."

Gene Reeves, an American Buddhist teaching Buddhist studies in Tokyo, Japan said the conference centered on the theme, "Hear the Cries of the World" offered valuable insights on achieving global healing. "I think the problems that the world faces are so great that it's unrealistic to think we'll accomplish much without religious cooperation which requires some degree of mutual understanding," said Reeves before attending a workshop on global healing and reconciliation.