Spirituality for interculturality: under what conditions?

This text explores the mutual relationship between interculturality and spirituality, as well as intercultural and spiritual education, emphasising their interdependence. Specifically, it examines the need for spirituality – broadly understood – for fostering interculturality and outlines the conditions that spirituality and religious education (RE) must meet to fully harness their intercultural potential. Six key conditions are analysed: the need to (1)focus on lived religion rather than institutional aspects; (2)move beyond an interpretation of coexistence based on the concepts of needs and power characteristic of ‘modern’ spirituality; (3)understand spirituality beyond dialectical dialogue and logical/epistemological truth; (4)overcome defensive spiritualities tied to political identity; (5)reject a dualistic view of spirituality; and (6)recognise the culturally distinct other not only as an end ‘in themselves’ but also as an end ‘for the person’, as exemplified in what has been called a ‘heterotelic’ spirituality. Based on these conditions, the text calls for a transformation of RE to leverage the intercultural potential of spirituality and promote intercultural encounters grounded not only in discourse ethics and dialectical dialogue but also in the recognition of the ontological truth embodied by every human being. This truth is grasped through the person’s spiritual dimension, which serves an integrative, rather than analytical, function.