Religious dialogue in tourism

Abstract

Tourism is a global fact. People are crossing geographical and cultural distances. Catholics regularly meet Christians from different denominations as well as members of other religions and worldviews. It is therefore necessary to prepare tourists for a dialogue with representatives of these other worldviews in order to help the tourists’ personal faith understanding and maybe even deepen it.

The author introduces the fundamental principles, objectives, and conditions for a dialogue among tourists. He discusses also various types of religious dialogue: within the tourists’ own religious community, the ecumenical dialogue between members of different Christian denominations, philosophical dialogues with non-believers and finally dialogue between members of different religions.

The author proceeds by describing specific situations related to tourism which gives an opportunity for different forms of dialogue. Sometimes, however, there are also some dangers which should be avoided by Catholics.