Reflections on Rome: The Experience of Encounter

Two decades into the new century and emerging from a global pandemic, we face a new challenge: an increasingly fractured world divided along political, social, and religious lines. Over the course of his pontificate, Pope Francis has proposed a way forward out of this global crisis: the creation of "a culture of encounter" in which "we can also speak with those who think differently, as well as those who hold other beliefs, who do not have the same faith." A culture of encounter, however difficult to sustain, may represent the only viable way to negotiate and bridge differences for the global common good on issues from climate change to social and economic development and peace. Over the course of 2021 and 2022 the project has convened a global network around this concept. It is a partnership between the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Dicastery for Culture and Education, Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, with generous support from the GHR Foundation.