Anglicans: respecting the differences of others” “” “

The archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey submitted his resignation a few days ago, and therefore did not participate in the prayer day for peace in the world held at Assisi on 24 January. Richard Garrard , suffragan bishop of the Church of England for the diocese of Europe and director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, intervened at Assisi on his behalf. We interviewed him. What does the meeting in Assisi mean for you? “The meeting in Assisi is an extraordinary event. It’s very important that the world’s religious leaders should meet together for peace. And it’s important that together they should declare that believing in God means believing in peace, believing in the harmony between peoples. The meeting in Assisi helps to clarify God’s will for the world”. How can religions be prevented from being exploited for improper ends? “Today we have understood that we cannot follow the God of love by using violent means. We took a long time to learn this lesson, but thanks to God we have now understood it. There are still frictions between religious communities and not only in Northern Ireland but throughout the world, as for example between Moslems and Hindus in Kashmir. These facts bring home to us how important are the efforts of religions to create relations of friendship and bridges of dialogue between peoples, in the hope that the Truth may reach all believers in God, in every part of the world”. Do religious leaders have at heart the problem of social injustices? “Jesus told us to love our neighbour more than ourselves. And our neighbour has the same rights as us. We must therefore bear witness to this love but above all put it into practice. Yes, peace has a presupposition, and this presupposition is justice. The fact that believers were not perfect in the past, does not mean that they cannot become so in the future, beginning from now. In the field of social justice and in the struggle against poverty, there is a great task to be performed. And it can be realized also through campaigns here in Italy, in the United Kingdom, or in the United States”. How can the young be educated in peace? “The leaders of the nations and of the religions may educate in peace by first setting an example”. What’s your message for Assisi? “We must be committed to the peace process and to working for justice in the world. Archbishop Carey was very sorry he was unable personally to participate in the meeting in Assisi. Carey has given the greatest priority to interreligious dialogue in the course of his work as archbishop and has promoted many interreligious initiatives for social justice”. The Assisi meeting coincided with the Prayer Week for Christian Unity. What does that mean? “It means Christians praying together. What we must do is to work towards the full communion of the Church of Christ. Christ chooses as his own disciples people who are very different from each other. And when people grow in communion between each other, they do not suddenly become equal, they don’t suddenly begin to express themselves with the same words, nor behave in the same way. Growing in unity means respecting the differences of others. It is the differences that enrich the whole Church of Christ. But Christian unity is also an occasion for the rest of the world”. What did the sermon preached by Cardinal Murphy O’Connor to the Queen mean for you? “Many exponents of different Christian traditions have been invited to preach before the Queen. Nonetheless this invitation opened a breach. A small step was taken towards reconciliation. Of course, there are many other things that still need to be clarified, but it was a good sign”. Maria Chiara Biagioni