” “Despite differences in religious backgrounds, explained Benedict XVI, "the recognition of the existence of God cannot but prepare the believers to regard the other human beings as brothers". Then, the Pope went on, no one is permitted to "take religious difference as a reason or prerequisite for having a warlike attitude towards other human beings", however "one could object that history is conversant with the sad phenomenon of religious wars". "But we know added the Holy Father that it is not religion as such, but the cultural limitations with which religion is experienced and grows over time that are to be blamed for such demonstrations of violence. But when the religious feeling reaches maturity, it generates in the believer the perception that faith in God, the Maker of the universe and the Father of everyone, cannot but promote relations of universal brotherhood amidst men". Actually, recalled Benedict XVI, "signs of the intimate bond existing between one’s relation with God and the ethics of love can be found in all of the major religious traditions". Another important aspect of the initiative promoted in Assisi by John Paul II is having placed "emphasis on the value of prayer in the building of peace": "the prayers of the different religions could show how prayer does not divide but binds, and is a decisive factor for an effective pedagogy of peace". (to be continued)” “
