Violence never again, war never again , terrorism never again

Pope Benedict XVI together with 300 delegates of other religions, as well as people of no religion at all concluded a day long visit to Assisi on Thursday 27th October to renew commitment to peace. Philippa Hitchen reports:

The ceremony began with lively music and dancing by young men and women from the Focolare movement, performing choreographies to symbolise their search for peace, while the Pope and the other religious leaders sat watching on the stage or filling the square below the lower basilica.
One by one, Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Sikh, Baptist, Muslim, Taoist, Buddhist, Shinto, Jewish, Reformed and non-believers stepped up to the microphone. They spoke of their hopes and dreams for peace and justice, for security and freedom, for solidarity and dialogue as the only way to resolve tensions and conflicts between peoples and nations.
Finally, Pope Benedict brought together that multi-faith, pluri-ethnic pledge with the words spoken from the heart by so many different Popes over the past century, Violence never again, War never again Terrorism never again.
Young volunteers then moved slowly through the crowd distributing small glass oil lamps with lighted wicks that participants struggled to keep alight, a powerful symbol of the struggle that so many of them face in their own countries to keep the voice of peace and justice alive and audible above the noise of oppression and conflict
A quarter of a century on, the context for this interfaith meeting may have changed dramatically, yet as the pope, the bishops, the rabbis, the imams turned to embrace each other at the conclusion of this encounter, it was quite clear that their commitment to combat violence, persecution and indifference to the plight of the poor was as vivid and strong as ever. After a final moment of prayer in the crypt at the tomb of the saint, revered throughout the world as pioneer of peace and interfaith dialogue, the delegates set off down the hill for the train ride back to Rome. This colourful pilgrimage to the city of St Francis may be over, but for these men and women, the journey to his promote his message of God's love for all people and all of creation continues with even greater urgency
In Assisi, with Pope Benedict I'm Philippa Hitchen
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