Vatican City, 1 December 2014 (VIS) –
Yesterday, as is his custom, Pope Francis spoke with the journalists
accompanying him on the return flight from Istanbul to Rome. The
questions touched mostly on the themes of relations between Islam and
Christianity, and ecumenism.
The Holy Father affirmed that the
Qu'ran is a book of peace and that Islam cannot be equated with
terrorism; however, he remarked, it is necessary for Muslim
political, religious and academic leaders to condemn terrorist
attacks so that the people may hear this directly from such figures.
He also revealed that in the Blue Mosque, he prayed above all for
peace. Referring later on to so-called “Christianophobia” or
anti-Christian sentiment, as opposed to “Islamophobia”, he
underlined that today there are many Christian martyrs among the
populations of the Middle East, and he mentioned those compelled to
leave their homes. This martyrdom has been the fate of faithful of
different Christian confessions and has given rise to an “ecumenism
of blood”.
With regard to the Middle East, he
spoke about the situation in Syria, condemning the traffic and sale
of arms, and reiterated that behind every war there are always
political and economic problems and commercial interests, in attempts
to save a system that accords centrality to the god of money, rather
than human beings. The Pope observed that it seems to him we are
experiencing a third world war, fragmented and dispersed in various
places, and expressed his wish to go to Iraq, although he remarked
that at the moment it would not be possible since it would create
important problems for the authorities and difficulties regarding
security. Francis revealed that he considers the opening of the
Turkish-Armenian border to be a very important issue, but is aware
that there are political issues that make this difficult, and he
invited prayer to contribute to making this opening possible.
The Pope focused closely on the
question of ecumenism, commenting that it is a path that must be
followed together and stressing the importance of spiritual ecumenism
– praying, working and carrying out charitable works together. He
added that with orthodoxy, this joint path is proving successful
thanks to the sacraments and the apostolic succession, and that it
will be fundamental to provide an answer to the question posed by
John Paul II when he asked the Orthodox to help arrive at a formula
for primacy acceptable to these Churches. He also expressed his wish
to go to Moscow in order to meet with the Patriarch Kiril, but not at
the moment due to the pressing problems in Ukraine. Again in relation
to ecumenism, he stressed that when the Church looks inwardly to
herself rather than at Christ, when she believes herself to be a
creator of light rather than a bringer of light, she creates
divisions. Finally, he remarked on the desire of Christians to be
able to celebrate Easter on the same date.
One of the final questions related to
the recent Synod of Bishops, and the Holy Father affirmed that the
Synod is a path and a process, and therefore a person's opinion or a
draft document cannot be given consideration. Nor is the Synod a
parliament, but rather a protected space where one may let the voice
of the Spirit be heard.
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