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On 27 October 1986, twenty years after Nostra Aetate , Vatican II’s Declaration on the Non-Christian Religions, promulgated on 28 October 1965, Pope John Paul II dared to make a prophetic gesture: he reunited the representatives of the various religions at Assisi to pray for peace. Ever since then the meeting has been repeated every year. It is well known that Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, had some concerns, accentuated by the cultural situation in Europe with which he was very familiar. His fears sprang both from relativism, according to which the truth cannot be reached, and from syncretism, which would level down each religion to enable it to enter a common mould. Dialogue cannot be reduced just to pointing out what the religions have in common, forgetting and underestimating the differences between them. This did not prevent the Pope from writing a letter to the Bishop of Assisi on 2 September on the occasion of this anniversary. In his message Benedict says he is sorry that peace is so slow in coming. The armed conflicts taking place today may, he says, “give the impression that not only cultural diversity, but also religious differences are causes of instability or threats to the prospect of peace”. Nonetheless, Benedict XVI continues to believe that religion can be a promoter of peace. Despite the differences that characterize the various religious itineraries, the recognition of God’s existence, he says, must dispose believers to consider other human beings as brothers and sisters. And to achieve this, just like John Paul II, he believes in the importance of prayer. Notwithstanding, in this same letter, the Pope recurs to his concerns about relativism, which he sees increasingly gaining possession of Europe. As a philosopher, as a believer and as a theologian, the Pope cannot accept this. Is he not perhaps right? If, with dialogue, we want to lay a stone on the building of a pacified humanity, we need to deepen what’s specific about our own faith and have the courage to proclaim it. With meekness, with respect and with an upright conscience, dialogue cannot be satisfied with recognizing what we hold in common, but must also recognize what is unique that each of us can offer to others, without forgetting what each can receive from it in the common and sincere search for God. So, it is more than ever important for the Christian Churches to define more clearly what is specific to each of them in the religious concert. Otherwise, what purpose will it have to continue to dialogue? Perhaps this is one of the objectives of the event “Brussels-All Saints” (Bruxelles-Toussaint 2006), which will begin in a few days’ time, and similar initiatives of other Churches of Europe.Undoubtedly the words of Benedict XVI, which in recent weeks have been expressed with the gentleness and firmness that distinguishes him, will be at the centre of the reflections and projects of the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe who are now meeting in St. Petersburg. From this place too comes a great hope for peace.
