Vatican
City, 7 September 2013 (VIS) – More than a hundred thousand people
gathered in St- Peter's Square this evening in response to Pope
Francis' appeal during last Sunday's Angelus in which he convoked for
today, 7 September, a day of fasting and prayer for peace, in the
light of the dramatic circumstances which have engulfed Syria. Since
then, this initiative has been welcomed and applauded not only by
Catholics and other Christian confessions, but also by those
belonging to other religions, from Buddhists to Jews and Muslims, and
even those who do not belong to any religion. This week has seen
extensive mobilisation on the part of parishes and associations,
Caritas and the Community of St. Egidio, prayer groups and religious
orders such as the Descalced Carmelites of the Holy Land, mayors and
presidents of autonomous regions, organisations for peace,
co-operation and development, unions, and so on. Many prominent
figures have joined in with the initiative, such as the architect
Renzo Piano, the president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz
and the Grand Mufti of Syria, spiritual leader of the Sunnis, who
invoked peace this afternoon in the Ummayad Mosque, Damascus, with
the nation's religious leaders. A prayer for peace was raised this
afternoon in Catholic churches around the world, from Australia to
Egypt.
The
Square was crowded with people since the morning; among them there
were many who wished to confess, from 5.45 onwards, to one of the
fifty priests in the Constantine Wing and below the colonnade;
Francis wanted confessors to be present on this day as “true peace
is born of the human heart reconciled with God and with one's
brothers”. At 18.30, the words uttered by the Pope last Sunday were
repeated as an introduction to the Vigil which began at 7 p.m. with a
greeting from the Pope and the singing of the “Veni Creator”,
followed by the enthroning of the image of the Virgin as “Salus
Populi Romani”, carried by four Swiss Guards.
The
Pope began by praying the Rosary; each mystery was accompanied by the
reading of a poem by St. Therese of Lisieux about the child Jesus,
and at the end he invoked Maria: “Queen of Peace, pray for us”.
He then pronounced the following homily:
“'And
God saw that it was good'. The biblical account of the beginning of
the history of the world and of humanity speaks to us of a God who
looks at creation, in a sense contemplating it, and declares: 'it is
good'. This, dear brothers and sisters, allows us to enter into God’s
heart and, precisely from within him, to receive his message. We can
ask ourselves: what does this message mean? What does it say to me,
to you, to all of us?
“It
says to us simply that this, our world, in the heart and mind of God,
is the 'house of harmony and peace', and that it is the space in
which everyone is able to find their proper place and feel 'at home',
because it is 'good'. All of creation forms a harmonious and good
unity, but above all humanity, made in the image and likeness of God,
is one family, in which relationships are marked by a true fraternity
not only in words: the other person is a brother or sister to love,
and our relationship with God, who is love, fidelity and goodness,
mirrors every human relationship and brings harmony to the whole of
creation. God’s world is a world where everyone feels responsible
for the other, for the good of the other. This evening, in
reflection, fasting and prayer, each of us deep down should ask
ourselves: Is this really the world that I desire? Is this really the
world that we all carry in our hearts? Is the world that we want
really a world of harmony and peace, in ourselves, in our relations
with others, in families, in cities, in and between nations? And does
not true freedom mean choosing ways in this world that lead to the
good of all and are guided by love?
“But
then we wonder: Is this the world in which we are living? Creation
retains its beauty which fills us with awe and it remains a good
work. But there is also 'violence, division, disagreement, war'. This
occurs when man, the summit of creation, stops contemplating beauty
and goodness, and withdraws into his own selfishness.
“When
man thinks only of himself, of his own interests and places himself
in the centre, when he permits himself to be captivated by the idols
of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then
all relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door
opens to violence, indifference, and conflict. This is precisely what
the passage in the Book of Genesis seeks to teach us in the story of
the Fall: man enters into conflict with himself, he realizes that he
is naked and he hides himself because he is afraid, he is afraid of
God’s glance; he accuses the woman, she who is flesh of his flesh;
he breaks harmony with creation, he begins to raise his hand against
his brother to kill him. Can we say that from harmony he passes to
'disharmony'? Can we say this: that from harmony he passes to
'disharmony'? No, there is no such thing as 'disharmony'; there is
either harmony or we fall into chaos, where there is violence,
argument, conflict, fear.
“It
is exactly in this chaos that God asks man’s conscience: “Where
is Abel your brother?” and Cain responds: 'I do not know; am I my
brother’s keeper?'. We too are asked this question, it would be
good for us to ask ourselves as well: Am I really my brother’s
keeper? Yes, you are your brother’s keeper! To be human means to
care for one another! But when harmony is broken, a metamorphosis
occurs: the brother who is to be cared for and loved becomes an
adversary to fight, to kill. What violence occurs at that moment, how
many conflicts, how many wars have marked our history! We need only
look at the suffering of so many brothers and sisters. This is not a
question of coincidence, but the truth: we bring about the rebirth of
Cain in every act of violence and in every war. All of us! And even
today we continue this history of conflict between brothers, even
today we raise our hands against our brother. Even today, we let
ourselves be guided by idols, by selfishness, by our own interests,
and this attitude persists. We have perfected our weapons, our
conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to
justify ourselves. As if it were normal, we continue to sow
destruction, pain, death! Violence and war lead only to death, they
speak of death! Violence and war are the language of death!
“After
the chaos of the Flood, when it stopped raining, a rainbow appeared
and the dove returned with an olive branch. I think also of the olive
tree which representatives of various religions planted in Plaza de
Mayo, in Buenos Aires, in 2000, asking that there be no more chaos,
asking that there be no more war, asking for peace.
“And
at this point I ask myself: Is it possible to walk the path of pace?
Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once
again to walk and live in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of
God, under the maternal gaze of the Salus Populi Romani, Queen of
Peace, I say: Yes, it is possible for everyone! From every corner of
the world tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is
possible for everyone! Or even better, I would like for each one of
us, from the least to the greatest, including those called to govern
nations, to respond: Yes, we want it! My Christian faith urges me to
look to the Cross. How I wish that all men and women of good will
would look to the Cross if only for a moment! There, we can see God’s
reply: violence is not answered with violence, death is not answered
with the language of death. In the silence of the Cross, the uproar
of weapons ceases and the language of reconciliation, forgiveness,
dialogue, and peace is spoken. This evening, I ask the Lord that we
Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions, and
every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: violence and
war are never the way to peace! Let everyone be moved to look into
the depths of his or her conscience and listen to that word which
says: Leave behind the self-interest that hardens your heart,
overcome the indifference that makes your heart insensitive towards
others, conquer your deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue
and reconciliation. Look upon your brother’s sorrow – I think of
the children, look upon these - look upon your brother's sorrow, and
do not add to it, stay your hand, rebuild the harmony that has been
shattered; and all this not by conflict but by encounter! May the
noise of weapons cease! War always marks the failure of peace, it is
always a defeat for humanity. Let the words of Pope Paul VI resound
again: 'No more one against the other, no more, never! ... war never
again, never again war!'. 'Peace expresses itself only in peace, a
peace which is not separate from the demands of justice but which is
fostered by personal sacrifice, clemency, mercy and love'.
Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of
peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us
pray for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and
peace, and let us all become, in every place, men and women of
reconciliation and peace! Amen”.
Following
the Pope's words, a moment of silence was observed during the
preparation of the altar for the exposition of the Holy Sacrament.
The adoration was accompanied by a biblical reading on the theme of
peace, followed by the Pope's prayer on this subject and a
responsorial invocation as a plea for peace. At the end of each of
those moments, five pairs of people, representing Syria, Egypt, the
Holy Land, the United States and Russia, placed incense in the censer
to the right of the altar. This offering was accompanied by a series
of invocations on the common theme of peace, including: “Lord of
life, bring to us your peace, to where the fate of nations is
decided” and “Stop, with your creative power, all violence
against human life”.
The
adoration was followed by the reading - “in the longest form
planned for the celebration of a vigil” - of the Gospel of St.
John. Then, from around 10.15 to 10.40 p.m., there was a long period
of silence for personal prayer.
At
the conclusion of the ceremony, Pope Francis imparted his Eucharistic
blessing to those present. Today, the Pope wrote to his nine million
followers on Twitter, “Pray for peace”.
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