Assisi (AsiaNews) - Pope Leo XIV released a video message today addressed to the various leaders gathered in the city of Saint Francis for the concluding event of Unarmed and Disarming Peace, an event promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio, marking 40 years since the historic gathering launched by John Paul II on 27 October 1986.
In his message, the pontiff says that, “Precisely in these times marked by a ‘culture of power’, there is a need to cultivate the spirit of Assisi, which entails a rejection of the religious justification of war, a spirit of mediation and dialogue, and contemplative reflection combined with creative action in the service of a future of peace.”
The pope had hoped to be there in person "to see your faces and bear witness together to the fact that living as brothers and sisters is already possible”; however, the need for caution during his recovery following surgery made a visit to Assisi inadvisable.
Meanwhile, as the Vatican Press Office announced yesterday, his trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru on 6-17 November, will go ahead as scheduled.
Although unable to join the many Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and other religious leaders to pray and meet together in front of the Basilica of Saint Francis, Leo XIV still sought to highlight the prophetic nature of this gathering, first inaugurated by John Paul II in 1986.
“I am heartened by the long and faithful journey made over these years, which has borne much fruit,”he says. “After 1989, many believed that globalization would ensure lasting peace for the world.
“Unfortunately, as I wrote in Magnifica Humanitas, ‘an almost blind faith was placed in the ability of the markets to generate prosperity, democracy and stability. In reality, rather than automatically generating unity and peace, globalization has provoked fundamentalist, identity-based and nationalistic reactions’.”
“Against this backdrop, there has been ‘troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics’.”For this reason, he stressesthat “peace must once again become the common ideal of all peoples, the guiding star for all our choices, the standard that exposes injustice, and the shared horizon for all.” Indeed, “We must rebuild peace everywhere, not prepare for more wars.”
Religions must carry out together such a task for “There is no such thing as a holy war: only peace is holy.”
The pontiff urged the religious leaders and all the women and men of good will gathered with them on this occasion to follow the path inaugurated in Assisi, which is, first and foremost, the path of prayer.
“Prayer may seem weak in the face of the powers of the world, but it is the humble strength of believers. Let us turn to God, the giver of peace, that he may touch the hearts of those who seek war and terrorism. Let us not forget that prayer is never in vain.”
Ultimately, prayer is a school of dialogue – not only with God, but also with people and with all creatures.
“The path of Assisi calls religious leaders to foster a climate of dialogue amongst the faithful and within society, so that the language of arrogance may give way to the language of peace, negotiation and understanding”, because this is the only way to “gradually [lead] humanity away from the cycle of violence”.
