Praying Together or Together, Praying?

I found D’Costa’s article on interreligious prayer incredibly enlightening, as I frankly had never considered the difference between interreligious prayer and multireligious prayer. As a recap, interreligious prayer implies a unity “of heart and mind”, whereas multireligious prayer is prayer which occurs separately but simultaneously.

Even if Catholics believe that Allah, worshipped in Islam, is the Triune God, (although Muslims would deny this) the Church would push back on saying that we are able to be united in prayer. D’Costa quotes the Catholic Bishops, restating the “old Latin saying lex orandi, lex credendi, (our prayer is an expression and ratification of our
belief).” As such, it would be logically impossible to share in the prayer expression of a belief that is not fundamentally shared.

However, I do believe that multireligious prayer could continue to be an important step. Although, as D’Costa notes, Pope St. John Paul II faced some controversy for hosting such a prayer event, I think that he was on the right track. By praying for common causes, such as peace or for an end to violence, we can better understand each other. Prayer, occurring at the same time and for the same purpose, is so intimate an action that no dialogue could ever match. In these times of prayer, I think what could be changed mostly is our willingness to listen to the other. Even if we are not able to be united in mind and heart, perhaps we can be united in purpose.