Dialogue…

  • assumes the good intentions of those involved
  • is an honest attempt to understand each other
  • aims at genuine reconciliation, not papering over the cracks
  • involves genuine humility and listening
  • seeks common mutual enrichment
  • is an exchange of gifts, not a negotiation
  • allows each tradition to explain itself
  • identifies past distortions, over-emphases and under-emphases
  • is aware of the influences of history, sociology and psychology
  • accepts the other person for him or herself, not as an imperfect duplicate of yourself

Dialogue needs…

  • a comfortable, safe, secure, relaxed environment
  • a sensitivity from the larger and more powerful to the smaller and weaker

Dialogue avoids…

  • misrepresentation and stereotyping
  • violent and offensive language and expressions
  • comparing the ideals of one with the practices of another

Dialogue means…

  • loyalty to the past (Tradition)
  • commitment to the present (Mission)
  • hope for the future (Vision)

Photo credit: © Valter Hugo Muniz WCC