Vatican
Weekend for September 18, 2016 features our weekly reflection, “There’s More in
the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye,” and, Pope Francis in Assisi for an
interfaith peace summit: we look to his namesake from Assisi, St. Francis,
who's inspired composers and artists throughout the ages.
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| Emir of kano, Alhaji Sanusi meets with Pope Francis in Assisi, Italy during the interfaith peace summit. |
(Vatican Radio) Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Buddhist
religious leaders applauded the “Spirit of Assisi” in interreligious meetings
launched by Pope St. John Paul II thirty years ago in the Italian hill
town. At the conclusion of a four day peace summit of interfaith leaders
in Assisi, representatives who addressed the gathering thanked Pope Francis
for, in the words of the Muslim representative from Indonesia, “his endless
commitment for peace.” Pope Francis arrived in Assisi Tuesday morning to attend
the final day of the meeting, organized by the Sant Egidio lay community.
Din Syamsuddin, Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian
Council of Ulama, expressed “high appreciation” to the lay Community of
Sant’Egidio for “having kept alive the spirit of Assisi” by organizing the
event each year. Noting that Indonesia is the world’s most populous
Muslim country, Chairman Syamsuddin said the cooperation “has brought concrete
fruits of peace such as our common work in interfaith dialogue, peace education
among youth, peace process and conflict resolution in Mindanao, South
Philippines.”
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| Pope Francis greets leaders of other faiths at the peace summit. |
Violent extremism in the name
of religion is an abuse of religion
The gathering each year has helped moreover, he added, “to
materialize our common ideals for peaceful coexistence and collaboration.
To say, and to show, with concrete actions, that violent extremism in the name
of religion is indeed misuse and even abuse of religion. Never violence can use
the name of religion, never!”
The Spirit of Assisi, he insisted, “is the true dialogue of life
that should be continued for the sake of our world,” and he added, “we want to
strengthen our commitment for this noble cause. Let’s walk together in
unity and diversity on the path to peace.”
Jewish Rabbi: despite
diversity, it is possible to become friends and live in peace
In his remarks, Rabbi Brodman, Chief Rabbi of Savyon, Israel,
recalled his own childhood at a Nazi concentration camp, and his frequent talks
to young people today “because [he] who does not know history is condemned to
repeat it.” The Spirit of Assisi, he affirmed, “is the best example for
humility and holiness and it is the answer to the tragedy of the Shoah and of
every war.”
In Assisi, he stressed, “we say to the world that it is possible
to become friends and to live together in peace, even if we are
different.” With the courage of dialogue, he said, conflicts can be
prevented and a human world created “where everybody can recognize in others
the image of God.”
Anglican Archbishop: listen,
eat, come and trust
In an ecumenical prayer ceremony in Assisi, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Justin Welby reflected on the misconception in today’s world that
money makes one rich: “We think ourselves rich. Our money and
wealth is like the toy money in a children’s game: it may buy goods in our
human economies which seem so powerful, but in the economy of God it is
worthless. We are only truly rich when we accept mercy from God, through Christ
our Saviour.”
And, he offered this consideration about Europe: “The
greatest wealth in European history has ended in the tragedies of debt and
slavery. Our economies that can spend so much are merely sandy
foundations. Despite it all, we find dissatisfaction and despair: in the
breakdown of families; in hunger and inequality; in turning to
extremists. Riddled with fear, resentment and anger, we seek ever more
desperately, fearing the stranger, not knowing where to find courage.”
God, he said, “offers wealth that is real and will bring
satisfaction.” In order to receive God’s mercy, one must listen to
the “most helpless and the poorest;”eat “above all in the Eucharist, in
sharing the body and blood of Christ;” cometo
the Lord and trust in His mercy. “When we receive
mercy and peace,” he said, “we become the bearers of mercy and peace.”
Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I: need for examination of conscience
In his remarks, the Patriarch Archbishop of Constantinople said
peace “needs a few cornerstones to uphold it even when it is endangered.”
“There can be no peace without mutual respect and acknowledgment,”
he added. “There can be no peace without justice; there can be no
peace without fruitful cooperation among all the peoples in the world.”
He also said peace comes from “mutual knowledge and cooperation”,
and spoke of the need for the leaders gathered in Assisi to revive these.
“We need to be able to ask ourselves where we may have been wrong,
or where we have not been careful enough; because fundamentalisms have risen,
threatening not only dialogue with others, but even dialogue within our own
selves, our very own consciences. We have to be able to isolate them, to purify
them, in the light of our faiths, to transform them into richness for all,” he
said.
Buddhist priest: prayers
and dialogue a “shortcut to peace”
91 year old Koei Morikawa Tendaizasu, Supreme Priest of the Tendai
Buddhist Denomination of Japan described being able to pray with world
religious leaders at these interfaith meetings as “one of the most joyous
occasions” of his life.
“History has shown us that the peace attained by force will be
overturned by force,” he observed. “We should know that prayers and
dialogue are not the long way but the shortcut to peace…We cannot, however,
overlook the current world movements which separate dialogue from unity and
cooperation and demand isolation and power.”
“In order to create a world with virtue where abhorrence exists
and with love where hatred exists, we clergy must pray together hand in hand
and continue to do our very best.”
Victim of Syrian war: Before,
there was no difference between Christians and Muslims
One of the many victims of conflict attending the summit, Tamar
Mikalli described being heartbroken when saying the name of her home city of
Aleppo, Syria.
“I remember my many Muslim and Christian friends. Now
distinctions are made between Christians and Muslims, but before the war there
was no difference. Everyone practiced his or her own religion, in a land
that formed a mosaic through different cultures, languages and religions.”
“When the heavy bombings were close to our houses,” she said, “we
met with our neighbours, sharing bread and water, the most precious goods that
go missing during wartime. We encouraged each other and prayed.”
She explained how she and her family escaped to Lebanon and then finally were
given refuge in Italy where they are doing their best to integrate, and asked
for prayers “for peace and love to return to Syria and all over the world.”
Archbishop of Assisi:
need for a “world-scale policy of brotherhood”
Archbishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, described the
interfaith summit as offering “a spirit of prayer,
understanding, and peace that aims at being an answer in a world darkened by
many wars. Wars that sometimes, improperly, even blasphemously and in satanic
ways, weave religious banners.”
Addressing Pope Francis, Archbishop Sorrentino said, “during this
year…you have taught us to live this culture of peace as the culture of mercy.
That is a culture of love, capable of caring, of being moved, and of forgiving,
according to the Evangelical beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful, for they
will be shown mercy”.
By practicing and testifying to our religious beliefs and by
respectfully listening to those of others during such meetings, he said, “we
have experienced true friendship.”
“But we need to go further. Our friendship must turn into a
contribution for a world-scale policy of brotherhood.”
“Is it possible,” he asked, “for humanity to perceive itself as
one single family? We believers think it is possible. This is the motive for
our work, while we search for what unites us together and disregard what
divides us.”
(Tracey McClure)
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