Babel or Pentecost?: Language-Related Issues in Catholic Involvement in the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions

Many Christians interpreted the World’s Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago in 1893, as “the defiance of the dispersion of the descendants of Noah at Babel” or as a “second Pentecost.” However, some Christians looked at mingling with people of other faith traditions with great concern and disapproval. The active and decisive involvement of members of the Catholic Church in the meeting reflected that tension. Various language-related issues relate to Catholic involvement in the parliament: the communicative power of actions beyond the power of words; Catholic efforts to articulate a pro-Catholic discourse in response to anti-Catholic, nativist narratives; the power of translation to interpret and influence dialogue between faith and culture and among religious traditions; and contested names by which some participating religious bodies were historically known. Based on consultation of the Propaganda Fide and Vatican archives, this article constitutes an attempt to shed light on the opportunity the World’s Parliament of Religions provided the Catholic Church to articulate and debate its approach to interfaith dialogue.