Vatican Inititative: Courtyard of the Gentiles

In keeping with the Vatican's continued emphasis on evangelization, it has initiated a most interesting effort aimed at increasing the quality of the dialog between the Church and both atheists and agnostics. The effort, in the form of a new foundation set up by the Pontifical Council for Culture, is called the "Courtyard of the Gentiles."

Model of the Courtyard of the Gentiles at the Temple in Jerusalem (destroyed by Rome in 70 A.D.)

The name of the foundation is derived from the outer courtyard of the Temple at Jerusalem, the place on the Temple grounds where Gentiles were welcome to come and pray. Providing the impetus to this new effort, Pope Benedict stated that Jesus viewed the courtyard as a place “cleared of extraneous affairs so that it could be a free space for the Gentiles who wished to pray there to the one God, even if they could not take part in the mystery for whose service the inner part of the Temple was reserved...I think that today, too, the Church should open a sort of ‘court of the Gentiles’ in which people might in some way latch on to God, without knowing him and before gaining access to his mystery, at whose service the inner life of the Church stands.” The pope went on to say, "To the dialogue with other religions we must add dialogue with those for whom religion is something unknown, for whom God is unknown and who nevertheless don't want to remain without God but want to get closer to him at least as an unknown." [Address to members of the Roman Curia, 12/21/09]

The foundation, which was introduced by the Vatican last year, is now operative and will involve open discussions with a wide range of people, including diplomats, academics and other intellectuals. Its aim is the search for truth and thereby to help atheists come to an understanding of theological thought and to accept its seriousness.  The first of these meetings will take place on March 24 to 25 in Paris at UNESCO headquarters, at the Sorbonne, and at the French Institute.

Even though it is not specifically evangelistic -- the Vatican has stated that its purpose is not to convert atheists, but rather to increase open dialog on such fundamental issues as life, death, good, evil, etc. -- the Courtyard of the Gentiles can only help nonbelievers appreciate the depth of theological thought and decrease the tensions that so often mark the relationship between the Church and the secular world.

Read more here: Courtyard of the Gentiles Initiative