The Dicastery is the central office of the Catholic Church for promoting interreligious dialogue in accordance with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, in particular the declaration Nostra aetate.
The Dicastery undertakes a range of activities that support its work of promoting mutual understanding between Catholicism and other religions.
The council was created on 19 May 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians by Pope Paul VI with his apostolic letter Progrediente Concilio.
[3] This organizational change reflected Benedict's view of the nature of dialogue with non-Christians, which he thought could not be theological and needed to focus on shared values, questions not of doctrine but culture.
Every two or three years, a Plenary Assembly is convened to discuss important issues and to set guidelines for the work of the Council.
The Dicastery has an advisory body of around 50 advisors, called Consultors, who provide research, advice and information to the Council.
appointed 11 November 2019; he taught at Fu Jen Catholic University and was executive secretary of the commission for interreligious and ecumenical dialogue of the Regional Episcopal Conference of Taiwan.