It is a fact that generally all people, including primitive tribes, have had religious beliefs and cults, belief in god or gods and various rites and rituals of worship. While some of the religions have remained in the primitive stage, others have developed philosophical and doctrinal systems. Some have so many adherents spread over a large part of the globe that they have been called 'world religions'.

It is an unfortunate fact in the history of mankind that even battles have been fought and blood has been shed in the name and for the sake of religion, and there have been hostilities and wars among the religions themselves.

Every person should have, as a fundamental right, the freedom to follow and practice the religion of his or her choice. So also the freedom to change from one religion to another. From this arises one's duty to respect the religious views and practices of others, however convinced one many be that one's religion is the true one, just as an ardent supporter of one political party must respect the views and policies of other parties or a scientist who values his theories must respect even the contrary theories of other scientists.

It is in fact, moreover, that while some of the teachings of these various religions are identical, there is also disparity in respect of other teachings, some of which are even contradictory, so that it cannot be logically said that all religions are the same or all are equally true.

That Christianity is a religion directly revealed by God, by Jesus Christ who is God, is the belief of the Christian. This conviction has been the basis of all missionary endeavour in the history of the Church. Although it is Christian belief that those of other faiths or no faith can also be saved if they live righteously according to their conscience, the Church has never ceased from its inception till now to bring to non-Christian people a knowledge of the Christian faith. This missionary apostolate has been carried out at great cost, in the face of numerous hardships and the sacrifice of lives of many missionaries. The call for evangelization has been renewed in our time by Vatican II (Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church) and the recent encyclical Redemptoris Missio. "The Church believes that God has established Christ as the one mediator and that she herself has been established a the universal sacrament of salvation." (Redemptoris Missio, 9)

Inspite of Christianity being the God-revealed religion and therefore unique, God's presence in other religions has also to be noticed. Catholic attitude to other faiths has in the past been very much a negative one. The present positive approach to them, which is a very desirable change, has come mainly from Vatican II. The council has given an impetus to the study and appreciation of the positive values of other religions and encouraged dialogue with them. These religions are seen as a preparation for the Gospel and playing a providential role in the divine economy of salvation. They contain "treasures a bountiful God has distributed among the nations of the earth." But the Church has "to illumine these treasures with the light of the Gospel." (Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity, 11). This is in keeping with Christ's instruction to his disciples: "Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation." (Mark 15:15).