Want Peace? Pray, says Pope

(Oct.05,2010) Service to peace requires a priority commitment to prayer, according to Pope Benedict XVI. The Pontiff affirmed this in a message sent on his behalf by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to the three-day International Meeting of Prayer for Peace in Barcelona, Spain that concluded on Tuesday The meeting, sponsored annually by the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community, is a continuation of the first interreligious and intercultural meeting called by Pope John Paul II in 1986 in Assisi, Italy.
Pope Benedict’s message affirmed that "at a difficult time of crises and conflicts, made more acute by the ever more widespread phenomenon of globalization, religions are called to fulfil their special vocation of service to peace and coexistence." The Papal message also said that to live as a genuine community of brothers and sisters, all peoples need to be inspired and supported by the common foundation of spiritual and ethical values. In this regard, it said “religions help society as a whole, to promote the inviolable dignity of every human being, since they recognize the source of each person's existence in God.” The Papal message affirmed that selfless service to peace exacts from all believers to give priority to prayer. It said
"In prayer, we are given the possibility to learn the language of peace and respect, strengthening that seed of peace that God himself has sown in men's hearts, and which constitutes, beyond differences of race, culture and religion, the most profound longing of the human being - the path of harmonious coexistence."