EVANGELII GAUDIUM - page 187

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251. In this dialogue, ever friendly and sincere,
attention must always be paid to the essential
bond between dialogue and proclamation, which
leads the Church to maintain and intensify her
relationship with non-Christians.195 A facile syn-
cretism would ultimately be a totalitarian gesture
on the part of those who would ignore greater
values of which they are not the masters. True
openness involves remaining steadfast in one’s
deepest convictions, clear and joyful in one’s
own identity, while at the same time being “open
to understanding those of the other party” and
“knowing that dialogue can enrich each side”.196
What is not helpful is a diplomatic openness
which says “yes” to everything in order to avoid
problems, for this would be a way of deceiving
others and denying them the good which we
have been given to share generously with oth-
ers. Evangelization and interreligious dialogue,
far from being opposed, mutually support and
nourish one another.197
252. Our relationship with the followers of Is-
lam has taken on great importance, since they are
now significantly present in many traditionally
Christian countries, where they can freely wor-
195 Cf. Propositio 53.
196 J ohn Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (7
December 1990), 56: AAS 83 (1991), 304.
197 Cf. Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia (21
December 2012): AAS 105 (2006), 51; Second Vatican Ec-
umenical C ouncil, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the
Church Ad Gentes, 9; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 856.