(The Nationalist, 26 September 2003)
There’s no shortage of bad news, so I’m glad to be able to point to some good news. Last year, religious leaders of many traditions, non-Christian as well as Christian, gathered in Assisi, Italy, in 1986, in response to an invitation from Pope John Paul II. They adopted the following ten commitments.
We commit ourselves:
- To proclaiming our firm conviction that violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic spirit of religion, and, as we condemn every recourse to violence and war in the name of God or of religion, we commit ourselves to doing everything possible to eliminate the root causes of terrorism.
- To educating people to mutual respect and esteem, in order to help bring about a peaceful and fraternal coexistence between people of different ethnic groups, cultures and religions.
- To fostering the culture of dialogue, so that there will be an increase of understanding and mutual trust between individuals and among peoples, for these are the premise of authentic peace.
- To defending the right of everyone to live a decent life in accordance with their own cultural identity, and to form freely a family of his own.
- To frank and patient dialogue, refusing to consider our differences as an insurmountable barrier, but recognizing instead that to encounter the diversity of others can become an opportunity for greater reciprocal understanding.
- To forgiving one another for past and present errors and prejudices, and to supporting one another in a common effort both to overcome selfishness and arrogance, hatred and violence, and to learn from the past that peace without justice is no true peace.
- To taking the side of the poor and the helpless, to speaking out for those who have no voice, and to working effectively to change these situations, out of the conviction that no one can be happy alone.
- To taking up the cry of those who refuse to be resigned to violence and evil, and we desire to make every effort possible to offer the men and women of our time real hope for justice and peace.
- To encouraging all efforts to promote friendship between peoples, for we are convinced that, in the absence of solidarity and understanding between peoples, technological progress exposes the world to a growing risk of destruction and death.
- To urging the leaders of nations to make every effort to create and consolidate, on the national and international levels, a world of solidarity based on justice.