Vatican City, 8 September 2014 (VIS) –
This Sunday the Holy Father sent a video message to all the
representatives of the Christian Churches, ecclesial communities and
all heads of world religions who will meet in the Belgian city of
Antwerp from 7 to 9 September for the International Meeting for Peace
organised by the Sant'Egidio Community. This year's theme, “Peace
is the Future”, commemorates the dramatic outbreak of the First
World War one hundred years ago, and evokes a future in which mutual
respect, dialogue and cooperation will help banish the sinister
phantom of armed conflict.
“In these days, in which many people
throughout the world need help to find the way to peace, this
anniversary teaches us that war is never a satisfactory means of
redressing injustice or reaching balanced solutions to social and
political discord. In the final analysis every war, as Pope Benedict
XV stated in 1917, is a 'useless massacre'. War drags populations
into a spiral of violence that is then shown to be difficult to
control; it demolishes what generations have worked to build and
paves the way for injustice and even worse conflicts”.
Pope Francis stressed that “we cannot
remain passive” when faced with “the innumerable conflicts and
wars, declared and undeclared, that nowadays afflict the human family
and ruin the lives of the youngest and of the elderly, poisoning
long-standing relationships of co-existence between different ethnic
groups and religions”. He remarked that with the power of prayer
“our various religious traditions are able, in the the spirit of
Assisi, to offer a contribution to peace. … I hope that these days
of prayer and dialogue will serve to remind us that the search for
peace and understanding through prayer can create lasting bonds of
unity and prevail over the passions of war. War is never necessary,
nor is it inevitable. There is always an alternative: the path of
dialogue, encounter and the sincere search for truth”.
“The moment has arrived for the heads
of all religions to cooperate effectively in the task of healing
wounds, of resolving conflicts and seeking peace. Peace is the sure
sign of commitment to God's cause”. The Pontiff concluded by
encouraging all those present to be “builders of peace” and to
convert communities into “schools of respect and dialogue with
those of other ethnic or religious groups, places in which we learn
to overcome tensions, promote equitable and peaceful relations among
peoples and social groups, and build a better future for the
generations to come”.
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