On two dates

Twenty years after the interfaith meeting of “prayer for peace” (Assisi, 27 October 1986) Benedict XVI has underlined the historical importance and the prophetic character of the teachings of John Paul II on the relation between religions and peace. In his message to the bishop of Assisi to mark the 20th anniversary of that memorable meeting, the Pope described it as “an event destined to leave its mark on the history of our time” and called it a “bold and prophetic initiative”. Benedict’s message goes beyond a mere tribute to his predecessor. It contains a profound reflection on the very notion of interfaith dialogue and, in this sense, represents an important stage in the reflection of the papal magisterium on a question made yet more difficult by the terror attacks on New York and by the tragic events that have followed 11 September 2001. The world of 2006 does not resemble that of 1986 in which the violent tensions between East and West had been forgotten. Now, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the European Communist regimes, the Cold War has given way not to the dreamt-for peace, but to new dangers, and peace has not come to earth. The third millennium began with hitherto unprecedented acts of terrorism against civilian populations.This prompts a first reflection. In the historical past religions were often exploited to justify hatred and conflict. But today attempts are being made to use religions to fuel geopolitical tensions and terror, trying to give “the impression that not only cultural diversities, but religious differences themselves, represent motives of instability or a threat to the prospects for peace”. In this sense, says Benedict XVI, the intuition of John Paul II “assumes the character of a precise prophecy”, because today, as in 1986, we need to forcefully reaffirm, to shout out aloud, that war can never be holy, only peace is holy: religious leaders, and also each believer, have in this sense a peculiar responsibility before God and before man. A second reflection. Benedict XVI poses the question of method: how can we foster peace when men of religion have no power at their disposal? The Holy Father’s answer is: prayer, because “peace needs to be built up in hearts” through conversion. Only thus is the strength of prayers born in the various religions, not mixed and confused, but always supported by a sincere dialogue on the many problems of the world. The one faith at the side of the other, never against it. Then, prayer represents, according to the Holy Father, “a decisive element for an effective pedagogy of peace, based on friendship, mutual acceptance, and dialogue”. A pedagogy that is becoming the only possible way of demolishing the walls of hatred and placating the thirst for vengeance. Prayer between the faithful of different religions does not lead, however, John Paul II insists, to seeking “a religious consensus” and not even to “a concession to relativism in religious beliefs”. With this clarity, and in underlining once again the strength of prayer, Benedict XVI, speaking from his native Bavaria, has warned Europe and the West of the danger of neglecting or being indifferent to God: peoples of other religions and other cultures would feel themselves threatened by this emptiness.