vaticannews.va
2024-09-28
"Stop war! Stop wars!". This is the cry of so many people raised by the participants at the International Meeting for Peace organised by the Community of Sant'Egidio in Paris from 22 to 24 September. Pope Francis addresses "political leaders" in his message, saying "We are now destroying the world! Let us stop while there is still time!" The message is addressed to all the participants at the meeting, with representatives of the churches, Christian communities, religious leaders of other faiths, and the authorities participating in the event that has its origins 38 years ago by promoted by John Paul II in Assisi.
Religions for peace
Pope Francis has expressed hopes that the meeting in Paris in the Spirit of Assisi may help believers to "nurture fraternity between peoples in our time." "All too often in the past, religions were used to fuel conflicts and wars. The danger of this continues, even in our own day." Pope Francis emphasises, reiterating, as he expressed together with Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together that "Religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood" and that, if anything, "These tragic realities are the consequence of a deviation from religious teachings. They result from a political manipulation of religions and from interpretations made by religious groups who, in the course of history, have taken advantage of religious sentiment in the hearts of men and women." He emphasised that religions must not fuel "forms of nationalism, ethnocentrism and populism. Wars only escalate. Woe to those who try to drag God into taking sides in wars!"