Assisi 2011: Card. Tauran on religions building peace

“Those journeying to God cannot but transmit peace, those who are building peace cannot but draw close to God”, says Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious dialogue on the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s departure on pilgrimage to Assisi, the city of peace accompanied by world religious leaders to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the first meeting for peace in the city of St. Francis convened by Blessed John Paul II.

“We are living in a precarious world where alas justice and peace are not secure for everyone”, he continues. “Everyday we see that arms speak louder than international law. This is why Pope Benedict XVI has convoked the third Assisi meeting. The purpose is to recall that there is another dimension another solution than that of armed conflict in order to gain one’s own right; that is prayer. Prayer that expresses our relation with the Supreme power who goes beyond our human capacity”.

Thus says the prelate, practicing what is common to all religions, prayer, fasting and pilgrimage, we shall be able to show that religions are factors of peace: “That peace supposes truth. Even the agnostics, that is to say the ones who are searching for God or the absolute are also walking towards the source of light”.

On Thursday 27 October 2011, Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Assisi. The day will take as its theme: Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace. Every human being is ultimately a pilgrim in search of truth and goodness. In addition to Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and other representatives of different religious traditions, non-believers have also been invited to Assisi, linked to the Courtyard of the Gentiles initiative.

Upon arrival in Assisi, delegates will make their way to the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, where the previous meetings will be recalled and the theme of the day will be explored in greater depth. Leaders of some of the delegations present will make speeches and the Holy Father will deliver an address.

There will follow a simple lunch, shared by the delegates: a meal under the banner of sobriety, intended to express fraternal conviviality, and at the same time solidarity in the suffering of so many men and women who do not know peace.

There will follow a period of silence for individual reflection and prayer.

The pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Francis will be in the afternoon; those participating in the event will walk to the basilica and the leaders of the various groups will join the pilgrimage for the final stretch. It is intended to symbolize the journey of every human being who assiduously seeks the truth and actively builds justice and peace. It will take place in silence, leaving room for personal meditation and prayer.

In the shadow of Saint Francis’ Basilica, where the previous meetings were also concluded, the final stage of the day will include a solemn renewal of the joint commitment to peace.

Listen:
(Photo: Ven. Jaseung (L), head of the Jogye Order, South Koreas largest Buddhist sect, shakes hands with French Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Roman Curia, at Jogye Temple in Seoul, South Korea, on 24 May 2011).