Religion can only be a tool of peace, says bishop of Vasai in the wake of Jakarta attacks
Mgr Felix Machado chairs the Office for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences. Deeply pained, he calls the Jakarta attacks, "cowardly acts against innocent people in the name of religion, which does not help either God nor the people of God.” For him, inter-faith dialogue is crucial. Religions can teach “the greatness and dignity of the human person by spreading a clearer sense of the oneness of the human family.”
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – For Mgr Felix Machado, archbishop of Vasai (India), religion can only be a tool of peace, not of violence along religions, cultural, or ethnic lines. No one has the right to “kill his brother in the name of the same God.”
The prelate was reacting to yesterday's attacks in Jakarta (Indonesia), which profoundly saddened him. Indeed, such violence “only deepens and widens humanity’s problems”.
For Mgr Machado, who chairs the Office for Ecumenism and Interreligious Affairs at the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC-OEIA), "whoever is responsible for these cowardly acts against innocent people in the name of religion, which does not help either God nor the people of God. There is no justification for violence."
Islamist terrorists linked to the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombings in a trendy area of the Indonesian capital with the goal of imposing its dominance among the region’s Islamist groups.
Today Indonesian security forces announced the arrest of three suspects, as the hunt for other suspects continues.
The archbishop stressed the value of dialogue in human relations. It is the only way to “resolve problems."
Dialogue needs the experience of God because it “is deeply desired by believers of all religions and their respective leaders; at many levels, constructive interreligious dialogue has been increasingly taking place.”
In Asia, “evidence of this is the growing network of friendship in daily life across religious boundaries, deep exchange of ideas during organised interfaith colloquia, collaboration among people of various religions for the common good at local, national and international levels and mutual respect for religious practices among believers of different religions.”
In concluding, the archbishop of Vasai offers his thoughts about the role of religion today.
“The role of religion in contributing to peace and harmony in modern society cannot be underestimated. This is why the world’s great religions need to work together to eliminate the social and cultural causes of terrorism.”
Religions “can do this by teaching the greatness and dignity of the human person and by spreading a clearer sense of the oneness of the human family. The longing for peace is deeply rooted in human nature and is found in the different religions.”
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