Pope Francis: Courageous dialogue needed to overcome hatred war

By Pope Francis

This book, “Words of Peace,” testifies to the long journey that unfolds from the Interreligious Peace Meeting in Assisi in 1986, that was initiated by Saint Pope John Paul II, through the present. Through the collection of Andrea Riccardi’s texts, delivered within the framework of those annual Meetings, current problems, threats of war, and hopes for peace, are perceived. In addition, what also emerges are 'energies' and hopes sparked by dialogue among religions and among believers. These are the feelings that always help us not to despair that peace is possible.

Pope Wojtyla’s insight, which summoned religions to Assisi to pray alongside one another and no longer against each other, was bold. The Cold War was still ongoing, and the times seemed threatening. Religions could, on one hand, represent resources for peace, but on the other, fuel or sacralize conflicts.

The Assisi event amazed the world for its novelty. Those who experienced October 27 in Assisi know that it was perceived, even from afar, as a historical event by the people. However, there were controversies, as is often the case with historical events. The problem was how to continue that path after the great event in Assisi. John Paul II had said at the end of the meeting: “There is no peace without an indomitable will to achieve peace. Peace awaits its prophets” (John Paul II, Assisi, October 27, 1986).

Assisi “could not and should not remain an isolated event,” as I myself said when receiving religious leaders in Rome at the end of the International Peace Meeting on September 30, 2013: “You have continued this path and increased its momentum, involving significant personalities from all religions as well as secular and humanist representatives in dialogue." 

"Especially in these months," I had said, "we feel that the world needs the spirit that animated that historic meeting. Why? Because it so desperately needs peace. No! We can never resign ourselves to the pain of entire peoples, hostages of war, misery, and exploitation. The path of Assisi, in the years following 1986, has been an act of trust in prayer and dialogue for peace.”

This path has gathered individuals from different religious perspectives; it has journeyed to various places around the world. First, twice in Rome's neighbourhood of Trastevere; then to Warsaw in 1989, when the Wall was about to fall; or to Bucharest. In 1998, paving the way for the first Apostolic Journey of a Pope, John Paul II, to an Orthodox country. The “Spirit of Assisi” in the practice of dialogue and friendship has formed men and women of peace from different religions, long distant or hostile for centuries.

The path followed “each year suggests the way: the courage of dialogue”: Religious leaders are called to be true “dialoguers,” to act toward building peace not as intermediaries, but as authentic mediators. Each of us is called to be an artisan of peace, uniting and not dividing, extinguishing hatred and not preserving it, opening paths for dialogue and not erecting new walls!

There is the need to dialogue, meeting to establish a culture of dialogue and a culture of encounter in the world. Along this path, religious worlds have come closer together. Although areas and situations of fundamentalism persist, which are concerning, in the 21st Century, a profound change has occurred in the relationship between believers of different religions, who have begun to consider dialogue as decisive.

I think, in particular, of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, which I signed with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, in 2019. However, today there is a need for more dialogue. Especially in this period, with so many open conflicts and threats of wars, we realize that “the world suffocates without dialogue” (Pope Francis, June 15, 2014).

There is a need for open, frank, and constant dialogue. Religions know that “dialogue and prayer grow or wither together. The relationship of man with God is the school and nourishment of dialogue with men” (Pope Francis, September 30, 2013). For this reason, in the path undertaken in the Spirit of Assisi, with the impetus of the Community of Sant'Egidio, prayer has always been a central dimension. We indeed believe in the humble and gentle strength of prayer.

After 1989, the world became globalized, unifying in many aspects, such as finance and commerce, communications. However, it remained deeply divided. The division was fueled by a spirit of suspicion that not only preserved but also increased military apparatus. It is the idolatry of armed force: Starting with the development of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and the enormous and growing possibilities offered by new technologies, war has been given uncontrollable destructive power. In truth, humanity has never had so much power over itself and nothing guarantees that it will use it well (Fratelli Tutti). Andrea Riccardi rightly writes in these pages: “We are in a time when too many can wage war, having terrible arms at their disposal.”

But we are not paralyzed by fear, although we are concerned. We do not resign ourselves to the dominance of force and aggression. We do not renounce dialogue, allowing the spirit of hatred and war to invade religious worlds and the hearts of believers. We do not turn back on the ecumenical and interreligious path of many years, as the spirit of division and evil would like! “Religions cannot be used for war. Only peace is holy, and no one should use the name of God to bless terror and violence,” I said while participating in one of these Meetings (Pope Francis, Rome, October 25, 2022).

On the path of dialogue, friendship, and prayer, we have acquired the awareness that peace is holy and the name of God cannot be used to fight or terrorize! Such awareness is widespread and rooted in the people of simple believers who desire peace. Their prayer and that of those who suffer from war support dialogue.

Thus, shaped by many years of friendship, believers and, in particular, religious leaders and officials, constitute “a network of peace that protects the world and especially the most vulnerable” (Pope Francis, September 30, 2013). This book follows the constructive moments of this network. For this reason, I repeat what I said while participating in one of the Meetings in the Spirit of Assisi, organized by Sant'Egidio, in front of the Colosseum: “If you see wars around us, do not resign yourselves! Peoples desire peace!”