INTERFAITH CHAMPION IN 25 YEARS, THE POPE HAS BUILT BRIDGES AMONG RELIGIONS.

Byline: Fr. Bob Bonnot

AS we celebrate 25 years of extraordinary contributions by Pope John Paul II, few impress like his interfaith leadership. He points to our best future.

Abraham Joshua Heschel, arguably the most significant Jewish theologian of the 20th century, argued that ``we must choose between interfaith and inter-nihilism.'' John Paul II has chosen interfaith.

Imagine if a post 9-11 pope were as anti-Muslim as Pope Pius XII was anti-communist after World War II. Imagine what additional intrusions into the Muslim world the U.S. might have perpetrated, cheered on as it has been by some Christian voices.

John Paul II has persistently condemned harsh rhetoric and the resort to arms. He has reached out peacefully to peoples of all religions in 129 countries.

He has met respectfully with their religious leaders, visited their places of prayer and prayed there himself when appropriate. He has invited Muslims and Jews, Hindus and Buddhists, animists and Native Americans to join him in Assisi, twice, to pray for peace. Firm in his own commitment to God as known in Jesus, John Paul nonetheless relates positively to adherents of other faiths.

In 1987, when John Paul II met with Los Angeles' interfaith leadership at our Japanese Cultural Center, he said that world religions ``share a common respect of and obedience to conscience, which teaches all of us to seek the truth, to love and serve all individuals and peoples, and therefore to make peace among individuals and among nations.''

A recent poll indicates that two-thirds of Americans say they don't understand Islam. One-third think Islam encourages violence against non-Muslims. Fewer than half consider Islam a peaceful religion, and we split down the middle on whether to view Islam with favor.

Ignorance is a dangerous place, the seedbed of suspicion, hate, violence, war. John Paul II challenges all inclined to act on such ignorance, suspicion and fear. He offers a positive antidote: Visit others, get to know them, pray with them!

When I attended the 1993 Parliament of World Religions in Chicago as a member of the press, I overheard an ABC reporter interviewing the Vatican's delegate, an archbishop. The interviewer expressed surprise that the Catholic Church would participate in such a religious bazaar. The archbishop responded, ``I am surprised that you are surprised!'' Even John Paul himself was criticized within the Vatican for his Assisi gatherings.

John Paul has reached out most dramatically to the Jewish community. He has affected a revolution in Christian-Jewish relations. He is the first Bishop of Rome since St. Peter to visit a synagogue. His Vatican formally recognized the state of Israel. He visited Israel in 2000, meeting jointly with Israel's chief rabbi and leading Muslim cleric. He prayed at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

John Paul spoke to Muslim youths in Morocco, dialogued with Muslim clerics in Cairo, entered a mosque in Syria (another papal first). He has even met respectfully with such leaders of atheistic states as Mikhail Gorbachev and Fidel Castro.

On Sept. 11, 2001, a network of Middle East fanatics, claiming Islam as their inspiration, attacked symbols of America's intrusive and domineering power. In response, the arguably Christian West launched the first ``wars'' of the 21st century - two of them already - against Afghanistan and Iraq, Muslim nations. Such wars seek support in the theses of some that our times entail a clash of civilizations and culture wars. John Paul proposes an alternative: Build a civilization of love with others.

For 25 years, John Paul II has shown us how to live faithfully, peacefully, lovingly in an interfaith world. His example is important in our shrinking world. Dealing daily with people of other religious traditions can be threatening, evoking fear, fevered protection of our own interests and resort to war. John Paul II invites us to turn rather to love, dialogue, respectful consideration of others' interests and active commitment to oneness under God with liberty and justice for all - peace.

The Los Angeles community is blessed with a 40-year heritage of constructive interfaith relations. Inspired by John Paul II at 25, may we extend that heritage far into our future.

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Photo:

Pope John Paul II waves to the crowd at his 25th anniversary Mass.

Massimo Sambucetti/Associated Press