In Theory:

The Tidings (the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles) writer Anne Hansen last week wrote about a symposium held at Loyola Marymount University recently designed to encourage dialogue “among believers of many faiths.” The symposium focused on dialogue especially within the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. However, in the larger scheme of things, how important do you believe it is for brothers and sisters of other faith traditions to work together for unity? How does an open dialogue between faith traditions manifest itself in your particular faith?

The Rev. Richard Albarano: “That they all may be one, Father “ is the last prayer of Jesus on the night before he died. We need to heed his prayer and work to bring it to fulfillment in our attitudes and our lives.

Ecumenism, openness to other religions and their beliefs, has been a mainstay of the Roman Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council 50 years ago. On the international level we have ongoing dialogues with most of the major religions. On a local level, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has an Office of Ecumenical Affairs.

At the parish level, we strive to have an open and hospitable approach to all. All are welcome to our church and all will be made to feel at home. Many of our married couples are in “mixed marriages” (one Catholic and non-Catholic) and we go out of our way to make the spouse of the other religion feel welcome in every way we can.

When we receive new members into our fold at their request we always celebrate their former religion and offer prayers of gratitude for that religion that nourished them in faith. There is absolutely no aspect of triumphalism at all.

Will we all ever be one? Obviously, in the last days, we will for it is the prayer of Jesus, and the prayer of Jesus is the will of the Father. Until then, we must work to accept and not change one another. We need to appreciate the other and the differences that we may have in our faith and liturgical traditions.

As Christians, we are one in our faith in Jesus.

As people of faith we are one in our belief in the one true God.

As members of the human race we are one in our belief in the goodness and the good will of the majority of our fellow humans.

This is a start.--The REV. RICHARD ALBARANO is pastor of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Burbank. Reach him at (818) 504-4400.

The Rev. Skip Lindeman: Dialogue with other believers is extremely important, I believe.