Engaging Across Difference:
Race and Religion Today

Culture of Encounter: Race and Religion in America

Race and religion—divisive topics. Topics anyone could be forgiven for avoiding at the office or over a family dinner.

But topics that must be addressed—given our divided society and, for Christians, given the centrality of reconciliation to the Gospel.  How then to begin healing divisions, making a way forward together?  For Pope Francis the idea of encounter, a culture of encounter, was vital to moving forward.  “I would like to encourage everyone to engage in constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice towards others and foster a culture of encounter, helping all of us to view the world around us with realism and trust.” (Message for the 51^st Day of Social Communications, Jan. 24, 2017)

At IACS we encourage scholarly dialogue as part of a culture of encounter. Dialogue is intrinsic to the best research and scholarship. One scholar or group of scholars introduces an idea—to be discussed with and tested by other scholars and by thoughtful practitioners in the Church, in business, in philanthropy, or other sectors. In that way, research and knowledge advance in dialogue with the wider society. In the best possible world scholars also broaden the understanding of their research outside the narrow confines of the ivory tower through popular articles or public forums. The Race and Religion events recently hosted by IACS provide a perfect example.

We invited two leading theologians, Vincent Lloyd and Jonathan Tran, to present their ideas for how our society can move beyond racial identity as the primary way to think about race in America. To do so, Drs. Lloyd and Tran engaged in two kinds of dialogue—two kinds of encounter. The first was academic. A group of scholars—from sociology, history, ethnic studies, African American studies, political science, religion, and Islamic studies—read drafts of Lloyd and Tran’s book-in-progress and came together to challenge their assumptions and ask hard questions about their methods and conclusions. The scholarly encounter, as usual, was frank and sometimes rough-edged. But it was tempered with humor and good will and the shared goal of moving the conversation forward.

The encounter, however, didn’t conclude with the academic conversation.  Scholars are not, as one theologian memorably put it, simply “brains on sticks.” Over dinner they shared family news, commuting woes, holiday plans and hopefully broadened the encounter to include more than academics in their relationships.

In the second kind of encounter, Professors Lloyd and Tran presented their scholarly ideas at two public meetings. At the USC Caruso Catholic Center, Professor Lloyd discussed the dignity of the poor and oppressed, the importance of prioritizing their knowledge of a situation, and the significance of approaching others with “an attitude of attentiveness,” as Pope Leo emphasized in his 2025 exhortation “Dilexi te.”

At Christ Cathedral, the center of the Diocese of Orange in Southern California, Professor Tran shared both the blessing and the difficulties of growing up as part of an immigrant Asian family in Orange County. Attendees reflected on their own encounters with race in the context of religion. Both meetings took Lloyd and Tran’s scholarship into the public sphere of “real life” where people listened and learned and attended carefully to those marginalized in society and to those with differing views on race in American society.

Were the encounters successful? Measured in terms of concrete policy changes—probably not, yet.  Measured in terms of openness to encountering others, to listening and learning new ways to think about race and religion in America, and perhaps in laying the cultural groundwork for better public policy—absolutely.