Vatican City, 3 February 2016 (VIS) –
This morning, at the conclusion of the General Audience, Rinaldo
Marmara presented to Pope Francis a copy of his book "La Squadra
Pontificia ai Dardanelli 1657 / Ilk Canakkale Zaferі 1657".
This volume is an Italian and Turkish transliteration of a manuscript
from the Chigi collection of the Vatican Apostolic Library that is an
account of the papal fleet that participated in the Second Battle of
the Dardanelles in 1657. During a presentation of the book last
evening, the author stated that his objective was to make important
archival material from the Vatican Archives and Vatican Library
accessible to Turkish historians and researchers. The book,
notwithstanding the painful memories of history, illustrates the
importance of scholarly research and opening up archives to
historical investigation in the service of truth and building bridges
of cooperation and mutual understanding.
In light of this, the repeated
commitment of Turkey to make its archives available to historians and
researchers of interested parties in order to arrive jointly at a
better understanding of historical events and the pain and suffering
endured by all parties, regardless of their religious or ethnic
identity, caught up in war and conflict, including the tragic events
of 1915, is noted and appreciated. The painful events of history
should not be forgotten; instead they require careful examination and
reflection so that they may lead to the healing and purification of
memory so necessary for reconciliation and forgiveness for
individuals and peoples, as St. John Paul II affirmed.
The memory of the suffering and pain of
both the distant and the more recent past, as in the case of the
assassination of Taha Carım, Ambassador of Turkey to the Holy See,
in June 1977, at the hands of a terrorist group, urges us also to
acknowledge the suffering of the present and to condemn all acts of
violence and terrorism, which continue to cause victims today.
Particularly heinous and offensive is
violence and terrorism committed in the name of God or religion. As
His Holiness Pope Francis stated during his visit to the Central
African Republic: “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.
… Together, we must say no to hatred, no to revenge and no to
violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name
of a religion or of God himself". May these words inspire all
people of goodwill to remember and affirm their brotherhood,
solidarity, compassion and shared humanity and to reiterate their
common stand against all violence.
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