ANNUAL MESSAGE FOR THE END OF RAMADAN

VATICAN CITY, NOV 22, 2002 (VIS) - Today the annual Message from the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue to Muslims at the end of Ramadan 'Id Al-Fitr 1423 A.H./2002 A.D. was made public. The message, whose theme is "Christians and Muslims and the Ways to Peace," was published in French, English, Italian and Arabic and was signed by Archbishop Michael L. Fitzgerald, president of the council.

"You are well aware, dear friends, how acute the question of peace has become in our world today. Situations where war prevails are like an open wound in the heart of humanity, above all those conflicts which have been going on for many years, whether in the Middle East, in Africa or in Asia. In several countries such conflicts result in numerous innocent victims, leading the population to despair of peace returning to their land in the near future."

After emphasizing that "the origin of the causes of conflict is often to be located in hearts which refuse to be open to God," the archbishop writes: "While the ultimate causes of wars are well known, we need above all to explore together the ways to peace."

"As believers in the One God we see it as our duty to strive to bring about peace. Christians and Muslims, we believe that peace is above all a gift from God. This is why our two communities pray for peace; it is something they are always called to do."

The president of the pontifical council affirms that "in bringing about peace and maintaining it, religions have an important role to play, one which these days more than ever is being recognized by civil society and by Governments. In this respect, education is a domain in which religions can make a particular contribution. We are indeed convinced that the ways of peace include education, for through it one can learn to recognize one's own identity and that of the other. ... Education for peace also involves recognition and acceptance of diversity, just as it includes learning about crisis management, in order to prevent crises from degenerating into conflicts. We are happy to see that in several countries there is increased collaboration in this field among Muslims and Christians, especially as regards the equitable revision of text-books for schools."

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