What Is Interfaith Dialogue? Meaning and Examples

Interfaith dialogue is constructive engagement between people from different religious traditions, or with spiritual or humanist beliefs, as individuals or through institutions. Its aim is understanding. It is not meant to convert anyone or merge traditions. It is also called interreligious dialogue, and some now use the term interbelief dialogue, so that people with no religion are clearly included.

What are examples of interfaith dialogue?

Year	Example	Why it matters
1893	World’s Parliament of Religions, Chicago	An early global gathering, remembered for Swami Vivekananda’s speech on harmony.
1965	Nostra Aetate	The Catholic Church set out a new approach to other religions.
1993	Towards a Global Ethic	An assembly of 250 religious and spiritual leaders endorsed a shared ethic.
2007	A Common Word Between Us and You	138 Muslim figures wrote to Christian leaders about love of God and neighbor.
2010	World Interfaith Harmony Week	The UN General Assembly marked the first week of each February.

What forms can it take?

A 1991 Vatican document, Dialogue and Proclamation, describes four forms. Most dialogue is not a formal meeting of experts.

Dialogue of life: neighbors sharing everyday joys and problems.
Dialogue of action: working together on shared concerns.
Dialogue of theological exchange: specialists deepening their understanding of each other’s beliefs.
Dialogue of religious experience: sharing what prayer, contemplation or faith mean from within.

What are the guidelines for interfaith dialogue?

The best-known ground rules are Leonard Swidler’s Dialogue Decalogue (1983). In summary, they ask you to:

Come to learn and to change, not to win.
Be honest, and assume your partner is too.
Compare ideals with ideals and practice with practice, not your ideals with their practice.
Let each person define their own faith.
Meet as equals, and be willing to criticize your own tradition.
Try to understand the other faith from within.

Does interfaith dialogue work?

The evidence is encouraging, with conditions. A 2006 meta-analysis by Pettigrew and Tropp covered 515 studies and found that contact between groups typically reduces prejudice. The effect was stronger when contact met the conditions Gordon Allport proposed in 1954: equal status, common goals, cooperation and support from authorities or custom. Those studies cover many kinds of groups, not faith alone.

Knowing people also goes with knowing more. In a 2019 Pew survey, Americans who knew someone from at least seven religious groups averaged 19.0 correct answers on a religion quiz, against 8.6 for those who knew someone from three or fewer. That is a correlation, and Pew does not claim that one causes the other.

Interfaith, interreligious, pluralism: what is the difference?

Term	Meaning
Interfaith	Between people of different faiths. Often used interchangeably with interreligious.
Interreligious	Often the same. The World Council of Churches prefers it for dialogue with those who identify with a religious tradition.
Interbelief	A newer term that makes clear atheists, agnostics and humanists are included.
Pluralism	For Harvard’s Diana Eck, not diversity alone but energetic engagement with it, seeking understanding rather than only tolerating difference.

Where can ordinary people take part?

Many programs exist, but much of the work is local or aimed at professionals, such as the Connect2Dialogue network for practitioners. KAICIID’s site describes it. Universal Ground is built for everyone else: one-on-one conversations between two people who care about the same thing, opening soon. If you want to start today, read how to talk to someone about religion.

Common questions

What does interfaith mean?

Between or involving people of different religions. Interfaith dialogue, for example, is conversation between members of different faiths.

What is the goal of interfaith dialogue?

Greater understanding and respect between people of different traditions. Conversion is not the goal, and neither is merging religions.

Do you have to be religious to take part?

No. Modern definitions include spiritual and humanist beliefs, and the term interbelief dialogue was adopted partly to make that clear.

Is interfaith dialogue the same as ecumenism?

No. Ecumenism usually refers to relations among Christian denominations. Interfaith dialogue is between different religions.

What is interfaith dialogue?