What is the difference between “ecumenical”, “interfaith”, and “interreligious” relations?

The Catholic Church promotes ecumenical relations and prayer with other Christians, interfaith relations alongside other Christians with the “Abrahamic faiths”: Jews and Muslims, and interreligious relations with other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Our office collaborates with other Christians through the following:

• Annual Ecumenical Seminar, a speaker series on topics timely to the ecumenical movement, in the autumn of each year
• Participation in the Ecumenical Millennium Committee (EMC), with representatives from 17 Christian churches on behalf of their judicatory head – the EMC plans the Annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Ecumenical Prayer Service during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18 – 25) of each year
• Lutheran-Episcopal-Roman Catholic Committee – the LERC Committee plans an Annual LERC Vespers on Trinity Sunday of each year which is co-sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Evangelical-Roman Catholic Common Root Project, a dialogue between Evangelical Christian and Catholic theologians, co-sponsored by the University of St. Mary of the Lake and Trinity Divinity School
• Participation in the Illinois Conference of Churches, with representatives from 31 judicatories comprising 15 Christian churches in Illinois
• Religious for Christian Unity, a group of men and women religious dedicated to fellowship, sharing Scripture and prayer for Christian unity

Our office collaborates with the Jewish community through the following:

• Annual Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Jerusalem Lecture, a speaker series that alternates between a Jewish and Catholic location and a Catholic and Jewish speaker, co-sponsored with the American Jewish Committee – Chicago Chapter, Chicago Board of Rabbis, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, in the winter of each year
• Annual Jewish-Christian Clergy Retreat, a 24-hour retreat for rabbis, priests and ministers on timely topics, co-sponsored with the American Jewish Committee – Chicago Chapter, the Chicago Board of Rabbis, the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago and the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Collaboration with the American Jewish Committee – Chicago Chapter on the Catholic-Jewish Educational Enrichment Project, which introduces Catholic schools to Judaism and the Jewish people and Jewish schools to Catholicism
• Ongoing dialogues with the Jewish community, especially a Catholic-Jewish Scholars Dialogue, and promotion of numerous local dialogues

Our office collaborates with the Muslim community through the following:

• Accepting the invitation of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) to attend the Annual Interfaith Iftar, which includes the breaking of the Ramadan fast, the observation of maghrib prayer, a festive dinner and program, in the Muslim month of Ramadan
• Ongoing dialogues with the Muslim community, especially with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) and the Ministry of Imam W.D. Mohammed (the Black Muslim community), and promotion of numerous local dialogues

Our office collaborates with other religions through the following:

• Participation in the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago, which meets periodically to discuss civic affairs and issue common to the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities in the metropolitan Chicago area
• Participation in the Interfaith Airport Chapels of Chicago (IACC) Board of Directors, which provides Catholic Christian, Eastern Orthodox Christian, Protestant Christian, Jewish and Muslim worship opportunities at the O’Hare and Midway Interfaith Airport Chapels
• Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR), based in Chicago, which hosts periodic Parliaments of the World’s Religions and local interreligious programming and dialogues
• National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), including contributing to the Annual NCCJ Interfaith Calendar and the Annual NCCJ Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, in November of each year
• Annual Memorial Service for Indigent Persons, commemorating the lives of indigent persons as recorded in the records of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, the last Wednesday in May of each year
• Ongoing dialogue with the Buddhist community, especially with the Buddhist Council of the Midwest

The Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs supports these and many other groups in the metropolitan Chicago area. Please contact our office for further details on how you can get involved.