Francis Watch: Hide Your Kids Hide Your Wife
The Modernists are spiritually raping everybody out here...
The Modernists are spiritually raping everybody out here...
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"Pope" calls indifference to suffering ‘great sickness’ of our time
Surrounded by Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, followers of traditional faiths and even atheists, as well as survivors of war and migrants, Pope Francis in Assisi on Tuesday declared that the "great sickness" of our time is "indifference" to the suffering caused by war and other tragedies.
The pontiff was in the birthplace of St. Francis, his namesake, for an interfaith summit marking the 30th anniversary of an historic assembly of religious leaders convened by St. Pope John Paul II at the height of the Cold War.
Joining fellow Christian leaders in prayer, Francis said that millions around the globe today are victims of war and are pleading for peace, often receiving nothing but the “bitter vinegar of rejection,” their cries silenced “with the same ease with which television channels are changed.”
He delivered two sets of remarks on Tuesday, first a meditation for the Christian leaders, and then a short speech for all the leaders gathered.
In the latter, he said that indifference to suffering which is a product of war is a virus “that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervor, giving rise to a new and deeply sad paganism: the paganism of indifference.”
The families whose lives have been shattered by war, the children who’ve known nothing but violence, the elderly who’ve been forced to abandon their countries, all of them, Francis said on Tuesday closing the World Day of Prayer for Peace, “have a great thirst for peace.”
Appealing to the world’s religious followers, the pontiff called for these tragedies not to be forgotten, and for their leaders gathered in Assisi to become the voice of all those who suffer and whose voices aren’t heard.
“We do not have weapons,” Francis said of the religious leaders. “We believe, however, in the meek and humble strength of prayer.”
The pontiff suggested that “thirst for peace” became a prayer to God on Tuesday in Assisi, so that “wars, terrorism and violence may end.”
That peace is neither a protest against conflict nor, as St. John Paul II said back in 1986, in the first of these interreligious gatherings, is it “a result of negotiations, political compromises or economic bargaining. It is the result of prayer.”
The peace Francis prayed for is one rooted in God, not in pride, personal interests, profit at any cost, or the arms trade.
It’s a “true peace that is not illusory,” hence not the result of avoiding difficulties, nor the cynicism of one who “washes his hands of any problem that is not his,” or of who takes a “virtual approach” judging things through a computer keyboard.
Peace, he said, has to be built by giving “first place” to those who suffer, fixing conflicts from within, through a consistent goodness and rejecting the “shortcuts offered by evil.”
And believers, regardless of their faith, are called to be “artisans of peace.”
According to Francis, peace means forgiveness; welcome and openness to dialogue; cooperation, and education, which he described as a call to learn “the challenging art of communion.”
Earlier in the day, at the Lower Basilica of St. Francis, the pontiff participated in an ecumenical prayer with the Christian leaders who had traveled to Assisi to participate in the 30th World Day of Prayer for Peace.
Among those gathered were three with whom Francis had private meetings before the prayer: The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I; His Holiness Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch, Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church; and Canterbury’s Archbishop Justin Welby, head of the Church of England.
In parallel, leaders of other religions prayed in different locations across the city, each according to their own beliefs, practices and rites.
During the ecumenical Christian prayer, countries where war is waged today, such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Central America, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the drug trade in Mexico, were named one by one and a candle lit. Priests and bishops who’ve been kidnapped, and have yet to be found, were also included in the prayer intentions.
Before an image of the crucified Christ, Francis said in his meditation during the prayer, Christians are called to “contemplate the mystery of Love not loved and to pour out mercy upon the world.”
Calling Jesus’s cross the “tree of life” with which “evil was transformed into good,” the pontiff said that Christians too are called to be trees of life that “absorb the contamination of indifference and restore the pure air of love to the world.”
“The victims of war, which sullies people with hate and the earth with arms, plead for peace; our brothers and sisters, who live under the threat of bombs and are forced to leave their homes into the unknown, stripped of everything, plead for peace,” Francis said.
These people, he continued, are the “wounded and parched members of [Jesus’s] body,” and like him, are often given the “bitter vinegar of rejection.”
“Who listens to them? Who bothers responding to them? Far too often they encounter the deafening silence of indifference, the selfishness of those annoyed at being pestered, the coldness of those who silence their cry for help with the same ease with which television channels are changed,” he said.
The first one to speak during the ecumenical prayer was Welby, who regretted that the “greatest wealth in European history has ended in the tragedies of death and slavery.”
Modern economies, he said, can spend so much, yet are built on merely sandy foundations.
“Despite it all, we find dissatisfaction and despair, in the breakdown of families, in hunger and inequality,” Welby said, “in people who turn to extremism.”
God instead, in his mercy reaches to “each for each and all of us,” offering a “wealth that is real and that will bring satisfaction.”
Pope Francis made the trip to Assisi to close the three-day event (Sept. 18-20), convened under the lemma “Thirst for Peace: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue.” The encounter is organized yearly by the Sant’Egidio Community, this time together with the Franciscan Families and the Diocese of Assisi.
The pontiff arrived in the Italian city by helicopter in the late morning, where he greeted the participants one by one. Many of them had lunch together at the Franciscan convent: Ravioli with ricotta cheese and spinach, turkey with beans and a fruit-pie pastry.
Among the VIP guests for the lunch was a group of victims of war and some refugees who have arrived in Italy through a humanitarian corridor put together by Sant’Egidio.
The interreligious prayer held this week in Assisi was first organized under St. John Paul II back in 1986. Although they’ve been held annually since then, it’s the fifth time a pontiff has participated. The Polish pope convened twice more, and Benedict XVI once.
Throughout the three days, more than 30 panels were held by the different faith communities, discussing conflict and other concerns in various parts of the world: how to combat violence and extremism, how to educate future generations for peace, caring for the environment, how to work more closely together to fight poverty and oppression.
As he often does when he wants to strengthen a point he was to make, in his closing remarks, Francis quoted two of his predecessors.
Reiterating John Paul’s words from 2002, he said that once again, religious leaders had gathered to “declare that whoever uses religion to foment violence contradicts religion’s deepest and truest inspiration.”
“We further declare that violence in all its forms does not represent ‘the true nature of religion. It is the antithesis of religion and contributes to its destruction,’” he said, quoting from the 2011 address of his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI.
“We never tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to justify violence. Peace alone, and not war, is holy!” Francis said.
Saying that peace is a “workshop,” he concluded his remarks calling on religious leaders to assume the responsibility of building peace, “reaffirming today our ‘yes’ to being, together, builders of the peace that God wishes for us and for which humanity thirsts.”
The closing ceremony also included the witness of Tamar Mikadi, a Syrian refugee who fled the “martyred city” of Aleppo, Syria, with the help of Sant’Egidio’s humanitarian corridor.
Talking about her city, she said, “breaks my heart,” since it was there that she was born, raised and where she got married. She and her family lasted three years in Syria after the war broke out, and then lived as refugees in Lebanon for two more years before emigrating to Italy four months ago.
“I remember my many Muslim and Christian friends,” she said. “Now, distinctions are made between Muslims and Christians, but before the war there was no difference, everyone practiced his or her religion, in a land formed by a mosaic of different cultures and religions. Then the war broke out. And I still don’t really know why.”
Mikadi spoke of remembering missiles pouring down in her city destroying houses, and about hearing the screams of mothers, fathers and desperate children, and of everyone praying together.
“To all of you, men and women of religion, and to you, your Holiness, on behalf of the Syrian people, we ask for a prayer of peace and love, to return to Syria. And to the rest of the world, thank you,” she said.
At the end of the ceremony, representatives of each religion present signed an appeal for peace, urging leaders of nations to defuse the causes of war, “the lust for power and money, the greed of arms’ dealers, personal interests and vendettas for past wrongs,” and the underlying causes of conflicts, including “poverty, injustice and inequality, the exploitation of and contempt for human life.”
Francis loves false religions & Socialism like Chunk loves Ice Cream...
“Let us free ourselves from the heavy burdens of fundamentalism and hate”
“No” to a “paganism of indifference”, “our path leads us to immersing ourselves in situations and giving first place to those who suffer; to taking on conflicts and healing them from within… let us free ourselves from the heavy burdens of fundamentalism and hate”. In the heart of Assisi, warmed by the afternoon sun, Pope Francis, along with hundreds of men and women of different world faiths, concluded the peace meeting organised by the Community of Sant’Egidio. Patriarchs, bishops and pastors, rabbis and imams, representatives of Shintoism, Buddhism and Indian faiths refused to give in to violence, hatred and the ideology of wars falsely proclaimed in the name of religion.
In his address, Andrea Riccardi, the founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, explained that the image of religious leaders gathered in the name of peace “is a bright image” that unmasks those who use the name of God to wage war and spread terror”. 30 years ago, in 1986, John Paul II convened another such meeting, where “he had the courage to invite those who for millennia were considered outsiders”.
The religious leaders listened to people’s accounts of war. Before the war, Tamar Mikalli, a Christian woman from Aleppo, worked as a teacher. “I am from Aleppo, Syria’s martyr city,” she says. “Aleppo – it breaks my heart to say this name… I remember the many Muslim and Christian friends I had there. Now distinctions are made between Christians and Muslims but before the war there were no differences… Then the war broke out, I’m still not quite sure why. Missiles started to fall, destroying houses. Still to this day I can hear the cries of a father, a mother or screaming children searching for their parents.”
Patriarch Bartholomew recalled that “there cannot be peace without mutual respect and recognition, there cannot be peace without justice, there cannot be peace without fruitful cooperation between all peoples of the world. But peace also requires justice. Justice is a renewed global economy that is attentive to the needs of the poorest; it involves caring about the condition of our planet, the protection of our natural environment, which is God’s creation for believers but is everybody’s Common Home… It means being able to show a capacity for solidarity which is not abstinence but being sensitive to the needs, pain and joy of another person, as if they were our own. Justice means being consistent in what we profess and believe, whilst being capable of engaging in dialogue with others, appreciating what others have to offer, without subduing others and without feeling superior or inferior to our neighbours.”
The chief rabbi of Savyon, David Brodman, is a witness of the Holocaust. As a child, he was deported to the concentration camps. “I saw in Pope Francis a clear example of humility and holiness in our day and age, just as St. Francis was an example for the people of his time. For me, the spirit of Assisi is the best example of humility and sainthood and is the answer to the tragedy of the Holocaust and all wars. Because here, we tell the world that it is possible to become friends and live together in peace even if we are different.”
Meanwhile, the Venerable Morikawa Tendaizasu, 257th Patriarch of Tendai Buddhism, recalls: “History has shown us that peace achieved by force will in turn be overturned by force. We should know that prayer and dialogue are not the longest but the quickest path to peace.”
The President of the Indonesian Council of Ulama, Din Syamsuddin, reiterated: “Islam – I want to repeat this solemnly here today – is a religion of peace. God made everyone different, the Holy Quran says, so that they may appreciate difference and learn from it. Today, there are groups that use the name of Islam to perpetrate acts of violence and it is our responsibility as Muslims to work together to show everyone the true face of our faith”.
Religious leaders signed an appeal which states: “This is the spirit that animates us: to bring about encounters through dialogue, and to oppose every form of violence and abuse of religion which seeks to justify war and terrorism. And yet, in the years that have followed, numerous populations have nonetheless been painfully wounded by war. People do not always understand that war harms the world, leaving in its wake a legacy of sorrows and hate. In war, everyone loses, including the victors.”
God’s name is peace. The one who calls upon God’s name to justify terrorism, violence and war does not follow God’s path. War in the name of religion becomes a war against religion itself. May a new season finally begin, in which the globalized world can become a family of peoples. May we carry out our responsibility of building an authentic peace.”
Finally, Pope Francis took the floor. “We thirst for peace,” he said. “We desire to witness to peace. And above all, we need to pray for peace”. Francis invited people to “set out, and come together in order to work for peace” because “God asks this of us, calling us to confront the great sickness of our time: indifference”. “It is a virus that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervour, giving rise to a new and deeply sad paganism: the paganism of indifference.”
“We cannot remain indifferent,” he added, recalling Bartholomew’s visit to the refugee camp on Lesbos and the victims of war, many of them “children who have known only violence in their lives”. “We do not want these tragedies to be forgotten. Rather together we want to give voice to all those who suffer, to all those who have no voice and are not heard. They know well, often better than the powerful, that there is no tomorrow in war, and that the violence of weapons destroys the joy of life.”
“We do not have weapons,” the Pope continued. “ We believe, however, in the meek and humble strength of prayer. On this day, the thirst for peace has become a prayer to God, that wars, terrorism and violence may end. The peace which we invoke from Assisi is not simply a protest against war, nor is it “a result of negotiations, political compromises or economic bargaining… it is the result of prayer.” Francis went on to say that “our differences are not the cause of conflict and provocation, or a cold distance between us. We have not prayed against one another today, as has unfortunately sometimes occurred in history. Without syncretism or relativism, we have rather prayed side-by-side and for each other.”
Francis reiterated that “the name of God cannot be used to justify violence. Peace alone, and not war, is holy!” Prayer and concrete co-operation “help us to break free from the logic of conflict and to reject the rebellious attitudes of those who know only how to protest and be angry. Prayer and the desire to work together are directed towards a true peace that is not illusory: not the calm of one who avoids difficulties and turns away, if his personal interests are not at risk; it is not the cynicism of one who washes his hands of any problem that is not his; it is not the virtual approach of one who judges everything and everyone using a computer keyboard, without opening his eyes to the needs of his brothers and sisters, and dirtying his hands for those in need. Our path leads us to immersing ourselves in situations and giving first place to those who suffer; to taking on conflicts and healing them from within.”
“Peace,” the Pope concluded by saying, “means Welcome, openness to dialogue, the overcoming of closed-mindedness, which is not a strategy for safety, but rather a bridge over an empty space. Peace means Cooperation”. We desire that men and women of different religions may everywhere gather and promote harmony, especially where there is conflict. Our future consists in living together. For this reason we are called to free ourselves from the heavy burdens of distrust, fundamentalism and hate.”
And all the Catholics react...
"Pope’s" Appeal for Peace at Closing Ceremony of Assisi Event
_
Appeal for Peace of His Holiness Pope Francis
Piazza of Saint Francis, Assisi
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Men and women of various religions, we gather as pilgrims in the city of Saint Francis. Thirty years ago in 1986, religious representatives from all over the world met here at the invitation of Pope John Paul II. It was the first such solemn gathering that brought so many together, in order to affirm the indissoluble bond between the great good of peace and an authentic religious attitude. From that historic event, a long pilgrimage was begun which has touched many cities of the world, involving many believers in dialogue and in praying for peace. It has brought people together without denying their differences, giving life to real interreligious friendships and contributing to the resolution of more than a few conflicts. This is the spirit that animates us: to bring about encounters through dialogue, and to oppose every form of violence and abuse of religion which seeks to justify war and terrorism. And yet, in the years that have followed, numerous populations have nonetheless been painfully wounded by war. People do not always understand that war harms the world, leaving in its wake a legacy of sorrows and hate. In war, everyone loses, including the victors.
We have prayed to God, asking him to grant peace to the world. We recognize the need to pray constantly for peace, because prayer protects the world and enlightens it. God’s name is peace. The one who calls upon God’s name to justify terrorism, violence and war does not follow God’s path. War in the name of religion becomes a war against religion itself. With firm resolve, therefore, let us reiterate that violence and terrorism are opposed to an authentic religious spirit.
We have heard the voice of the poor, of children and the younger generations, of women and so many brothers and sisters who are suffering due to war. With them let us say with conviction: No to war! May the anguished cry of the many innocents not go unheeded. Let us urge leaders of nations to defuse the causes of war: the lust for power and money, the greed of arms’ dealers, personal interests and vendettas for past wrongs. We need a greater commitment to eradicating the underlying causes of conflicts: poverty, injustice and inequality, the exploitation of and contempt for human life.
May a new season finally begin, in which the globalized world can become a family of peoples. May we carry out our responsibility of building an authentic peace, attentive to the real needs of individuals and peoples, capable of preventing conflicts through a cooperation that triumphs over hate and overcomes barriers through encounter and dialogue. Nothing is lost when we effectively enter into dialogue. Nothing is impossible if we turn to God in prayer. Everyone can be an artisan of peace. Through this gathering in Assisi, we resolutely renew our commitment to be such artisans, by the help of God, together will all men and women of good will.
AntiPope Francis has this Luciferian song on continuous replay
Hindu Assisi participant: ‘Francis is moral conscience keeper of the world’
(Vatican
Radio) Indian writer and activist Sudheendra Kulkarni is one of the
estimated 450 religious representatives of various faiths participating
in the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi where he participated in the panel discussion entitled “Terrorism Denies God”.
Kulkarni, who is of Hindu faith, heads the Observer Research
Foundation, an independent think tank, based in India. He is
particularly concerned with interfaith dialogue, specifically
India/Pakistan dialogue for peace and cooperation.
He told Vatican Radio’s Christopher Altieri that the message of the
World Day of Prayer for Peace is more relevant today than ever:
Listen:
Sudheendra Kulkarni discusses the significance of his participation
in the World Day of Prayer for Peace event in Assisi: “The message of
Assisi is universal. It is not only for Assisi, it is not only for
Italy, nor is it only for the Christian world. The greatest saint of
mankind, one of the greatest saints, St. Francis was from Assisi and we
in India respect St. Francis and the interfaith conference that was
organized for the first time 30 years ago. It was a landmark in
interfaith harmony around the world and we are gathering 30 years later,
therefore it is very important for us in India”.
Kulkarni notes that although he was not in attendance at the first
World Day of Prayer for Peace in 1986, he has heard about it. He says
that “the message is even more relevant for the world today”.
Reflecting upon the progress that has been made since the first World
Day of Prayer for Peace in 1986, Kulkarni said, “What it has achieved
is that since 1986 there is a far greater awareness in the world that in
our globalization era all the countries, all the cultures, and all the
religious communities should live together. This awareness is much
stronger today than it was in 1986 because as you know 1986 was still
the era of the two conflicting power blocks. The Cold War era: the Cold
War is over but in the era of globalization all religions have to
dialogue with each other and learn to live in peace and harmony with
each other”.
Although there has been a significant amount of progress since the
first event, Kulkarni acknowledges that there is still work to be done.
“There are many problems and some new problems and we have to learn
from each other. We have to learn to live with each other by respecting
our differences” he says.
Kulkarni further discusses the Cold War and the drive to remove
religious impulses in mankind: “I would think that this impulse is much
weaker today because the ideology of godlessness, the ideology that
tried to take humanity away from religion and away from God has failed,
it has collapsed. Of course that does not mean that the entire world is
now back on the part of true religious conduct, that is not true. We
have a long way to go, but if we understand religion in the true sense
of the term and the core message of all religions is the same, I
represent Hinduism, I come from India, we respect and we accept all
religions as true and as equal. Now this understanding that we have to
learn together in a world which has become small, which has shrunk into a
village, a global village that we have to live together. There is no
other way. This awareness, in my opinion, is much stronger today than 30
years ago”.
Kulkarni discusses his experiences with Pope Francis and his
expectations for the Pope in Assisi: “Pope Francis is at one level the
head of the Catholic Church in the world, but at another level he is the
moral conscience keeper of the world. His message is for the entire
humanity. Today he is one of those rare voices in the world, which is
reminding us that we have to change this world. We have to change this
world in a way that the poor are respected, the poor have justice, and
the poor can live in a secure world. Second, he is one of those great
global leaders who are speaking very spiritedly for the protection of
ecology. He is in fact known as a green Pope and we in India respect him
for this, and will be very happy to see Pope Francis visiting India at
his earliest opportunity”.
Francis in Assisi: "Peace alone, and not war, is holy!"
After each praying in their own tradition, the religious leaders
once again gathered outside the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
The 500 participants heard the testimony of this woman who escaped from the war in Syria. She is from Aleppo, and recalled how before the war Muslims and Christians lived in peace.
TAMAR
"Aleppo, when I pronounce this name, my heart shrinks. I remember where I was born, where I grew up and where I married..."
The
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople said this meeting was not a
simple commemoration of what took place 30 years ago, but is a renewed commitment for peace.
BARTHOLOMEW I
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
"There can be no peace without respect and mutual recognition. There can be no peace without justice."
Other
speakers included: Rabbi David Brodman, who survived the Holocaust;
Muslim Din Syamsuddin Mullah from Indonesia, the country with the most
Muslims in the world, and also Buddhist Morikawa Tendaizasu.
The pope was the last religious leader who delivered a speech. First, he explained the meaning of this meeting.
POPE FRANCIS
"Our
religious traditions are diverse. But our differences are not the cause
of conflict and provocation, or a cold distance between us. We have not
prayed against one another today, as has sometimes unfortunately
occurred in history. Without syncretism or relativism, we have rather
prayed side-by-side and for each other."
Then,
he warned thousands of people of faith about the danger of a special
paganism, which infiltrates between religions: through indifference to
the suffering of others.
POPE FRANCIS
"It
is a virus that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a
disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervour, giving
rise to a new and deeply sad paganism: the paganism of indifference."
The
pope pledged that no tragedy would be forgotten. He said that religious
leaders give a voice to those who suffer, to those who have no voice or
are not listened to. He also asked that religion is not used to justify
war.
POPE FRANCIS
"We
must never tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to
justify violence. Peace alone, and not war, is holy! Our future consists
in living together. For this reason we are called to free ourselves
from the heavy burdens of distrust, fundamentalism and hatred."
Attendees
shared in a moment of silence for all the victims of wars, and then
participated in signing a declaration for peace in the world.
It was a commitment that was given to this group of children, because the future that is built today, will be their present tomorrow.
Pope prays with Christian leaders for peace and asks the world not to respond with indifference
During the World Day of Prayer for Peace, each religion united in different places in the city of Assisi to pray for peace.
The Muslims all gathered to pray in this place.
Those belonging to the Jewish faith prayed together here.
The followers of Eastern traditions prayed in this way.
Also, Christians of all denominations prayed together in the lower Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.
They inserted hymns and New Testament readings and meditations with the three major religious leaders present.
BARTHOLOMEW I
"We
have come to this holy city from various corners of the world. We are
together as Christians in this holy place to ask the Lord for the
greatest of His gifts, peace, from Him, the King of Peace.”
JUSTIN WELBY
"In
God's economy, we are the poorest of the poor, poorer than ever because
we think ourselves rich. Our money and wealth is like the toy money in a
children's game: it may buy goods in our human economies which seem so
powerful, but in the economy of God, it is worthless. We are only truly
rich when we accept mercy from God, through Christ our Savior.”
POPE FRANCIS
"The
victims of war, which stains people with hate and the Earth with
weapons, they plead for peace; our brothers and sisters, who live under
the threat of bombs and are forced to leave their homes into the
unknown, stripped of everything, plead for peace.”
During the vigil, every country where there is currently a war was mentioned,
from Afghanistan to North and South Korea. There were 27 countries and
conflict zones. They also mentioned the violence in Central America, the
fights provoking drug trafficking in Mexico, the tension in Venezuela
or the war in the Holy Land, Syria and Iraq.
They also remembered priests and religious who are currently kidnapped or detained because of these conflicts.
Pope arrives to Assisi: Greets 500 participants of interreligious meeting one-by-one
Shortly before noon, the pope arrived at the Sacred Convent of Assisi for the World Day of Prayer for Peace organized by the Sant'Egidio Community.
His
arrival caused much emotion among the main leaders participating in
this event: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople; Syriac
Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Ignatius Aphrem II; Archbishop of
Canterbury, Justin Welby; chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni; Abbas
Shuman, deputy head of the most important university of the Islamic
world, Al-Azhar University in Egypt.
The pope
entered the courtyard of the convent where other participants were
waiting for him. There were some Yazidis, the other victims of the
persecution of the Islamic State.
"Thank you for praying for us and for working against Genocide.”
The
pope greeted the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg and the representative of
the Orthodox Church in Albania, which traditionally converses with
Catholics, Muslims and atheists.
"You serve as models of dialogue and help people. You gathered everyone together.”
As he greeted everyone down the line, he found many familiar faces, such as the chief rabbi of Turkey, whom he met during his trip to his country.
"The first time you were in my city and now I am in your city. God bless you.”
There were several representatives of Islam,
such as this one from Belgium, whom the pope thanked for his
condemnation of the attacks, and the Emir of Nigeria, who left a senior
position in a bank to engage in interreligious dialogue.
"He understood that dialogue is more important than wealth.”
The meeting in Assisi also included people of many other religions and Eastern traditions.
"For me, you are a blessing.”
This Buddhist attended the first meeting for peace organized by Pope John Paul II nearly 30 years ago.
"It's me.”
There
were many Catholics who are heroes of interreligious dialogue and
helping people, such as this religious woman that rescues child
soldiers.
One-by-one, the pope stopped to greet
the 500 participants and later had lunch with some of them. He saved a
spot for twelve refugees and a family.
"She is Maria. She is Syrian.”
"You are our hope.”
"She loves you, she said you are a symbol for peace.”
The
organizers of this meeting and members of religions do not intend on
organizing a theological debate about faith. Instead, they hope to show
that what unites those who believe in God is the certainty that we must
build peace.
In Santa Marta, pope says all faiths should cry for peace, there is no god of war
Pope Francis marked the World Day of Prayer for Peace in his homily at Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday morning, before his trip to Assisi. He rejected war and asked people to pray for peace, both in the world and in the hearts of people.
POPE FRANCIS
"May
the Lord grant us peace in our hearts. May He take away all desire for
greed, covetousness, for fighting. No! Peace, peace! So that our heart
is the heart of a man or woman of peace. And beyond the divisions of
religions: everyone, everyone, everyone! Because we are all children of
God and God is the God of peace. There is no god of war. He who makes
war is evil; it is the devil who wants to kill everyone."
Additionally, he asked for ears to turn toward the cries of pain coming from those who are suffering from war.
EXCERPTS OF PAPAL HOMILY
"There
is no god of war. War, the inhumanity of a bomb that explodes, killing
and injuring people, and cutting off humanitarian aid so that it cannot
get to children, the elderly, the sick, is uniquely the work of the
evil one who wants to kill everyone. For this, it is necessary for all
faiths to pray, even cry for peace - united in the conviction that 'God
is a God of peace.'"
"Today's
first reading ends like this: 'He who shuts his ear to the cry of the
poor will himself also call and not be heard.’ If we now shut our ears
to the cry of these people who are suffering under the bombs, who suffer
the exploitation of arms dealers, it may be that when it happens to us,
we will not be heard. We cannot turn a deaf ear to the cry of pain of
our brothers and sisters who are suffering from war."
"May
the Lord grant us peace in our hearts. May He take away all desire for
greed, covetousness, for fighting. No! Peace, peace! So that our heart
is the heart of a man or woman of peace. And beyond the divisions of
religions: everyone, everyone, everyone! Because we are all children of
God and God is the God of peace. There is no god of war. He who makes
war is evil; it is the devil who wants to kill everyone."
Meeting of Assisi: A mosaic of religions and nationalities. All united for peace
From the outset, the meeting of Assisi was a mosaic of races, nationalities and beliefs. All together to show the world that it is possible to dialogue and respect each other despite diversity.
BARTHOLOMEW I
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
"Come and let us look one to another in the eyes and let us then see what we have to say to another.”
The principal leader of the Orthodox Church, the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, was joined by
Polish philosopher, Zygmunt Bauman and the bishop of Rouen, where the priest Jacques Hamel, was killed by two terrorists.
In total, there are over
500 participants including four Nobel Laureates, UN representatives,
the chief rabbis of Turkey and Brussels, Orthodox, Protestant, Hindu and
Muslim delegations from around the world. Also present, were the representatives for the Grand Mufti of Lebanon and Al-Azhar University in Egypt.
The representatives of nine religions had a clear message: to denounce fundamentalism as an instrumentality of God.
MSGR. MIGUEL ANGEL AYUSO GUIXOT
Secretary, Pontifical Council Interreligious Dialogue
"Religions
are not the cause of the problem but part of the solution; therefore
religious leaders have the responsibility to come together, meet to
propose values.”
Pope Francis says the
world is bleeding in a time of "piecemeal Third World War.” Not just by
two fragments, but hundreds of conflicting positions fighting each
other.
To end this situation, the pope follows in the footsteps of his predecessors John Paul II in 1986 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.
The current pontiffs visit and encounter with the leaders of other
religions, gives a firm message of unity in diversity in a world unable
to communicate.
Vatican II is Not Catholic nor is Francis...
Vatican II Modernists are "spiritual rapists!"