Church and Society

October 2009 Article: “Faith and dialogue can lead to peace”

Recently, the Catholic News Service reported on an international congress held in Krakow, Poland in September. The report stated that some 300 leaders representing the world’s major religions took part in the gathering which was organized by Krakow’s archbishop, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz and the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio.

“Religious faith and dialogue can lead humanity away from the abyss of war, hatred and fear and point to the path to peace,” said leaders representing Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and other religions around the world. “Religions don’t want war and don’t want to be used as an excuse for or to justify war,” the leaders said in a final written statement released September 8. “To say a war is waged in the name of God is blasphemy and humanity will always be defeated by hatred and terror when it turns to war to solve its problems.”

Pope Benedict XVI told the gathering that the world’s religions in particular have a duty to fight against violence and extremism. “The key to future peace is the ability to transmit to younger generations a culture and style of life that is marked by love, solidarity and respect for others,” the Pope said. Joshua DuBois, special assistant to President Obama and head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, was one of the speakers during the closing ceremony.

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