The courage to dialogue

The 27th Interreligious Encounter of Prayer for Peace, called by the Community of Saint Egidio, was held this year in Rome from September 29 to October 1. Over 400 representatives of all the main Christian denominations and other world religions met together with politicians and cultural personalities to deal once again with the dramatic situation of the world today in the “spirit of Assisi”, that “spirit” which was born out of the memorable event of the first such meeting wished for by Blessed John Paul II, and held in Assisi on October 27, 1986.

Like every year since 1989, Shinmeizan was represented by Sr. Maria De Giorgi. Also this year this encounter has proved to be an ideal situation not only for reflection, new ideas and projects, but also for a friendly and fraternal interreligious exchange. 

The official inauguration took place on the afternoon of Sunday, September 29, at the “Auditorium Conciliazione”. Besides the founder of the Community of Saint Egidio, Andrea Riccardi, also the Papal Vicar for Rome, Card. Agostino Vallini; the Prime Minister of Italy, Enrico Letta; the Mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino and other outstanding political and religious personalities addressed the convention. Among them, the President of the Republic of Capo Verde Jorge Carlos Fonseca, the Grand Mufti of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Shawki Ibrahim Abdel Karim Allam, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and of all the East, Jean X Yazigi, David Rosen, Rabbi of the American Jewish Congress, from Israel, and Didi Talwalkar, leader of the Swadhyaya Movement, from India. 

At the solemn Eucharistic celebration held in the morning at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, presided over by the Papal Vicar Card. Agostino Vallini, besides numerous Cardinals and Bishops, also the representatives of other Christian denominations were present, in a spirit of fraternal and ecumenical participation. 

The general theme of the event was “Dialogue among religions and cultures: the courage to hope”. This theme gave inspiration to the more than 30 panel discussions open to the public, which took place on September 30 and October 1. Each of these panels took up the theme from a different angle, like “Violence on women: the religious response”, “Christians and Muslims: the culture of a shared life”,“Migrations: Receiving and integrating”, “Hope and peace: the religions in Japan”, etc.

In the morning of September 30th, the participants were welcomed by Pope Francis at the Vatican. In the intimacy of the Clementine Hall Pope Francis stressed once more the idea that “Peace is the responsibility of everyone. To pray for peace, to work for peace! A religious leader is always a man or woman of peace, for the commandment of peace is inscribed in the depths of the religious traditions that we represent. But what can we do? Your annual meeting suggests the way forward: the courage of dialogue. This courage, this dialogue gives us hope. It has nothing to do with optimism; it's entirely different. Hope! In the world, in society, there is little peace also because dialogue is missing, we find it difficult to go beyond the narrow horizon of our own interests in order to open ourselves to a true and sincere comparison. Peace requires a persistent, patient, strong, intelligent dialogue by which nothing is lost. Dialogue can overcome war. Dialogue can bring people of different generations who often ignore one another to live together; it makes citizens of different ethic backgrounds and of different beliefs coexist. Dialogue is the way of peace. For dialogue fosters understanding, harmony, concord and peace. For this reason, it is vital that it grow and expand between people of every condition and belief, like a net of peace that protects the world and especially protects the weakest members” (for the whole text click here, Address of Pope Francis).

Finally, in the afternoon of September 1, the representatives of the various religions, after offering prayers in different places according to each one’s own religious tradition, walked towards the magnificent Capitol Square, designed by Michelangelo, where the concluding ceremony was held. After an official welcome address by the Mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, all listened attentively to the touching stories told by Domenico Quirico, the journalist of ‘La Stampa’ just returned from Syria where he had been kidnapped and held prisoner for several months, and by Alganesh Fessaha, the courageous President of the Gandhi Association, who, at the risk of her life, is fighting in Eritrea against the terrible plague of traffic in human beings.

After the solemn proclamation and the signing of the ‘Appeal for Peace’ by the participants, a group of children, representing the new generation, handed a copy of the Appeal to the politicians and religious leaders present at the ceremony, as a request to implement it. In fact, it is not enough to wish, or even to will, peace. It is necessary to act, in order to make it a reality in our every day’s life, day by day, with humble but courageous choices.

The ‘courage of hope’ is born out of this daily commitment and from the solidarity that comes from love, as Pope Francis strongly pointed out: “Each one of us is called to be an artisan of peace, by uniting and not dividing, by extinguishing hatred and not holding on to it, by opening paths to dialogue and not by constructing new walls! Let us dialogue and meet each other in order to establish a culture of dialogue in the world, a culture of encounter”.