The Impossibility of Interreligious Dialogue - Catherine Cornille (2008)

In the face of competing religious claims in our shrinking world, many turn to dialogue as a hopeful way of fostering understanding and reducing violence. But why does actual dialogue so often fail?

This provocative essay investigates the possibilities and limits of interreligious dialogue. By showing the significant obstacles for dialogue, the book also proposes ways in which these obstacles may be overcome from within. Catherine Cornille lays out the essential principles that she characterises as requisite conditions for interreligious dialogue. With a short introduction and conclusion, the substance of the book is presented in five chapters, each unpacking one of these virtues: humility, commitment, interconnection, empathy, and hospitality.