Day of Reflection with the Pope and religious leaders

October 27, 2011 | AsiaNews.it

(Assisi) - The Assisi meeting is an added incentive in the “journey towards the truth,” allowing itself to become a “common engagement for peace against every form of destructive force”.

These were the words of Pope in his speech at the conclusion of a morning of interventions by various religious and non-religious figures in the Basilica of Sanata Maria degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels) gathered for the Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world. The pope stressed that in today’s world peace is threatened by two types of violence: one which “abuse of religion” and one which is derived from “the absence of God.”

But it is important to note that alongside the “reality of religion and anti-religion” which lead to violence, there are also those who “seek the truth, who seek God”. They are important contributors to dialogue and peace because they correct the claims of theoretical and practical atheism and push “believers to purify their faith, so that God, the true God, becomes accessible.”

Thus in his masterful speech, Benedict XVI strongly emphasizes the novelty of this Assisi meeting compared to the encounter of 25 years ago. Then, John Paul II invited religious representatives only. This time, the Pope invited non-believers, but people of great depth who seek the truth and he attributes them with a fundamental function.

The pontiff began by summarising the first meeting in Assisi in 1986. ” At that time – recalled the Pope – the great threat to world peace came from the division of the earth into two mutually opposed blocs. A conspicuous symbol of this division was the Berlin Wall which traced the border between two worlds right through the heart of the city. In 1989, three years after Assisi, the wall came down, without bloodshed. ”

“The deepest reason for the event – he added – is a spiritual one: behind material might there were no longer any spiritual convictions. The will to freedom was ultimately stronger than the fear of violence, which now lacked any spiritual veneer. For this victory of freedom, which was also, above all, a victory of peace, we give thanks”.

But “what is the state of play with regard to peace today?”, Benedict XVI asked. The world – he replied – is still “full of discord,” not only that sporadic wars are continually being fought, but also because “the world of freedom has proved to be largely directionless, and not a few have misinterpreted freedom as somehow including freedom for violence. ”

The pontiff continued by indicating two types of violence. The first is ” terrorism, for which in place of a great war there are targeted attacks intended to strike the opponent destructively at key points, with no regard for the lives of innocent human beings, who are cruelly killed or wounded in the process. In the eyes of the perpetrators, the overriding goal of damage to the enemy justifies any form of cruelty. Everything that had been commonly recognized and sanctioned in international law as the limit of violence is overruled”.

“We know – he added – that terrorism is often religiously motivated and that the specifically religious character of the attacks is proposed as a justification for the reckless cruelty that considers itself entitled to discard the rules of morality for the sake of the intended “good”. In this case, religion does not serve peace, but is used as justification for violence”.

The pope said that “yes, it is true, in the course of history, force has also been used in the name of the Christian faith. We acknowledge it with great shame. But it is utterly clear that this was an abuse of the Christian faith, one that evidently contradicts its true nature”.

The 1986 Assisi meeting wanted to express the message that true religion is a contribution to peace and that any other use is ” the antithesis of religion and contributes to its destruction.”

For this reason, the Pope continued, inter-religious dialogue is important in the search for, “a common nature of religion that finds expression in all religions and is therefore applicable to them all”. The “fundamental task” is to “argue realistically and credibly against religiously motivated violence.”

Read More: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pope:-Seekers-of-truth-and-of-God,-against-religious-violence-and-the-absence-of-God-23029.html