VATICAN
CITY,
18 OCT 2011 (VIS) - A press conference was held this morning in the Holy See
Press Office to present the "Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace
and justice in the world: Pilgrims of Truth, Pilgrims of Peace", due to take
place in the Italian town of Assisi on 27 October.
Participating in
today's conference were: Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Bishop Mario Toso, S.D.B., secretary
of the same pontifical council; Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue; Fr. Andrea Palmieri, head of
the Oriental Section of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity;
Msgr. Melchor Jose Sanchez de Toca y Alameda, under secretary of the Pontifical
Council for Culture, and Fr. Jean-Marie Laurent Mazas of the Pontifical Council
for Culture, director of the "Courtyard of the Gentiles"
initiative.
By calling this Day in
Assisi , Benedict XVI wishes to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
historic meeting organised there by John Paul II in 1986. "The world today, as
it did twenty-five years ago, needs peace", said Cardinal Turkson. "Following
two and a half decades of collaboration and joint witness among religions, it is
time to assess the results and to relaunch our commitment in the face of new
challenges", he explained. Those challenges include "the financial and economic
crisis which is lasting longer than expected, the crisis in democratic and
social institutions, food and environmental problems, biblical-scale migrations,
indirect forms of neo-colonialism, the scourge of poverty and hunger, unchecked
international terrorism, and greater inequality and religious
discrimination".
"Once more - and
suffice to consider recent events in Egypt and other parts of the world - we
must say 'no' to any exploitation of religion. Violence among religions is a
scandal which distorts the true identity of religions, it obscures the face of
God and distances us from the faith.
"The journey of
religions towards justice and peace", the cardinal added, "must be characterised
by a joint search for truth. ... Therefore Benedict XVI wishes the 2011
initiative in Assisi ... to be seen as a pilgrimage; the which implies
asceticism, purification, convergence towards a more exalted place, and taking
on a community responsibility".
The search for truth
"is a precondition for knowing one another better, for overcoming all forms of
prejudice, and of syncretism which obscures identity". It likewise helps us "to
collaborate for the common good" and facilitates our "coming together on the
plane of natural reason". It is a prerequisite "for defeating fanaticism and
fundamentalism, according to which peace comes about by imposing one's own
convictions on others", and for overcoming "the Babel of languages and the
laicism which seeks to remove from the human family the One Who is its Beginning
and End".
Turning to consider the
programme of events for the Day, the cardinal explained that the various
delegations will leave Rome by train on 27 October, in the company of the Holy
Father. Having arrived in Assisi , they will make their way to the Basilica of
Santa Maria degli Angeli, where the delegations will recall the previous
meetings there and explore the theme of the Day in greater depth. The Holy
Father will also deliver an address. That afternoon, those present in will make
a "pilgrimage" to the Basilica of St. Francis, being joined on the last stage by
the members of the delegations. Having reached the basilica, everyone will make
a solemn renewal of their joint commitment to peace.
More than fifty nations
will be represented in Assisi . They will include, apart from many European and
American countries, Egypt , Israel , Pakistan , Jordan , Iran , Saudi Arabia ,
Philippines and many others. "Those which, at this moment in history, perhaps
suffer most from problems associated with religious freedom and dialogue between
religions", Cardinal Turkson observed.
For his part, Msgr.
Melchor Jose Sanchez de Toca y Alameda , under secretary of the Pontifical
Council for Culture, pointed out that the Pope has, for the first time, also
invited non-believers to a religious meeting. "This innovative idea of the Holy
Father's", he said, "is based on the conviction that men and women, both
believers and non-believers, are always searching for God, for the Absolute, and
that they are, therefore, all pilgrims travelling towards the fullness of
truth".
The Pope's invitation
to participate in the Day has been accepted by the French linguist,
psychoanalyst, philosopher and writer Julia Kristeva; the Italian philosopher
Remo Bodei; the Mexican philosopher Guillermo Hurtado, and the Austrian
economist Walter Baier.
OP/
VIS 20111018 (760)
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