Let’s try to understand each other and get along

There are two big efforts toward dialogue, mutual understanding and peace that the Vatican prompted and took part in, but they went by with little notice outside the Catholic world.

Here was one:

The event passed by almost unobserved, but last May the Holy See sponsored an unprecedented course of studies for the diplomats of countries in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The aim was that of presenting itself to the Muslim governments of the region.

The theme of the course was, in fact, the following: “The Catholic Church and the International Policy of the Holy See.”

The goal was to build a bridge of understanding in a world of clashing civilizations and religions.

The course was attended by 20 diplomats from 16 countries: Albania, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to a representative from the League of Arab States and two representatives from the League of Islamic Universities.

Apart from the diplomat from Montenegro – an Orthodox Christian – all of the other course participants were of the Muslim faith.

We sure heard a lot about a line from Pope Benedict’s Regensburg address, blown all out of proportion and context at the time. But we didn’t hear about this, did we….

The diplomats participating in the course were taught about the institutions of the Catholic Church and the main goals inherent in its mission: the promotion of justice, respect for the person and thus for human rights – in particular the right to life and to religious freedom – and the pursuit of the universal human good, meaning peaceful coexistence on the basis of mutual understanding and respect. This activity – it was explained – unfolds on the level of both the universal Church and the particular Churches, in civil societies and in relations with states and with international bodies, and constitutes an important factor of “political” stability and ethical inspiration in our world.

Look at this insight: 

More than a clash of civilizations – it was said – we are witnessing today a “clash of ignorances” between Christian and Muslim societies. They fight, in part, because they do not understand each other. The religions have an irreplaceable role in overcoming this reciprocal incomprehension, and diplomacy must keep this in mind.

Those two sentences are loaded with incisive wisdom. Civilizations are experiencing a clash of ignorance, and government diplomats have to make room for the role religion serves in overcoming it.

Religious leaders aren’t exactly waiting in the wings for that.

Besides the Church outreach to Muslim leaders reported above, another Vatican effort toward building world peace took place today, in Assisi, the home of St. Francis, the holy man best known for his universal appeal to love and peace.

“The life of the converted Francis,” said the Pope, was “a great act of love,” as is shown by “his choice of poverty and his search for Christ in the face of the poor.”

Francis was “a true master” in the “search for peace, the protection of nature, and the promotion of dialogue among mankind,” said the Holy Father and he recalled John Paul II’s initiative that brought together representatives from Christian confessions and from other religions of the world for a meeting of prayer for peace in Assisi in 1986. “That was,” said Pope Benedict, “a prophetic intuition and a moment of grace.”

“The light of the ‘Poverello’ on that initiative was a guarantee of its Christian authenticity,” said the Pope, “because his life and his message are so visibly founded upon his choice of Christ. What must be rejected a priori is any form of religious indifferentism, which has no connection with authentic inter-religious dialogue.

Reject religious indifferentism. Remember that as the media go forward trying to find and define what is acceptable about religion in politics and the culture. 

“The spirit of Assisi,” Pope Benedict added, “which from that [1986 initiative] continues to spread out around the world, is opposed to the spirit of violence and to the abuse of religion as a pretext for violence. Assisi tells us that faithfulness to one’s own religious convictions, faithfulness above all to the crucified and risen Christ, is not expressed in violence and intolerance but in sincere respect for others, in dialogue, and in an announcement that appeals to freedom and reason while remaining committed to peace and reconciliation.”

To repeat, faithfulness to religious convictions is shown in respect, dialogue and the appeal to reason. The only way that will not lead to freedom, reconciliation and peace is if it is rejected.

After the Eucharistic celebration in the piazza at the church of St. Francis, Benedict made a plea to those present…..and whoever else would listen.

“I consider it my duty,” said the Pope, “to launch from here an urgent and heartfelt appeal for all the armed conflicts bloodying the earth to cease, for arms to fall silent and everywhere for hatred to give way to love, offense to forgiveness and discord to union.

“Here we feel the spiritual presence of all those who weep, suffer and die because of war and its tragic consequences, in all parts of the world, Our thoughts go out particularly to the Holy Land, so beloved by St. Francis, to Iraq, to Lebanon, to the entire Middle East. The peoples of those countries know, and have long known, the horrors of combat, of terrorism, of blind violence, the illusion that force can resolve conflicts, the refusal to listen to the other’s reasons and to do them justice. Only responsible and sincere dialogue, supported by the generous support of the international community, can put an end to so much pain and restore life and dignity to individuals, institutions and peoples.

“May St. Francis, man of peace, obtain for us from the Lord an increase in the number of people ready to become ‘instruments of His peace,’ through the thousand small acts of everyday life. May those in positions of responsibility be animated by a passionate love for peace and by an indomitable will to achieve it, seeking appropriate means to that end.”

Amen.