Terrorism has nothing to do with religions, and peace is nothing but “the fruit of justice”. These are the theses upheld by Msgr. Bernard Panafieu, Archbishop of Marseilles and President of the Secretariat for relations with Islam in a note published by the French Episcopal Conference in recent days, as a comment on the tragic attacks in New York and Washington. “When we find ourselves faced by horror – writes the Archbishop – we always seek, so to say, ‘definitive’ explanations”. “There are many commentators adds Panafieu who have tried to give a religious explanation to the terrorists, as if religions and theologians bore prime responsibility for the ills of mankind… Conscious of the distortions that our human views may bring to the divine message, we cannot however confound Islam with the interpretation that a few individuals devoured by the hunger for vendetta may make of it. Many Moslems, however, have expressed their rejection of this deformation, and have condemned these attacks in the name of their faith itself. The real question the archbishop continues – is to know why and how the world has been able to lead our brothers and sisters to such a state of despair as to be willing to kill themselves and to kill others”. According to Msgr. Panafieu, the causes of terrorism should be sought in the growing gap between the rich and poor countries. “The targets struck in New York and Washington explains the Archbishop express this clearly: they are not religious symbols but the centres of military and commercial power of the United States. It is at this level that we need to focus our reflection. How do we use our economic and military power? How do we respond to people’s hopes? Peace is nothing but the fruit of justice”.
