http://www.catholicnews.com/headline.htmThis article is from Catholic News Agency on the above link. However you will be unable to locate this article there, as they do not have archives and the article comes from 8th. November and was amongst my own personal items of interest.As always, all underlinings and changes in typeface to red or blue are my work for the purposes of possible discussion and/or interest, comment - and not in the original website document.
Very often a document is focusing on the bigger picture and I guess most of us perhaps will not be contributors on that direct front………..however, I highlight words and/or themes etc. that we can bring to our own relationships in our immediate and quite ordinary lives and in this way we do contribute, though we cannot perhaps sight it, to the bigger picture. The wood is comprised of many trees as the bigger picture is comprised of many small pictures as it were………..as a very large donation is often comprised of many small donations.
What I think we need to insight that if we measure in the ways of the world, then I am indeed incidental and of no consequence! This is as the world sees it……….however, God has placed me (us) exactly where we are because only we can effect the work he really needs done where exactly we are. And it is a very important work……….we however are used to ‘measuring’ as ‘this world’ measures.
Therefore the article can be read in terms of the bigger picture.........but also in the more immediate.
Pope reaffirms commitment to inter-religious cooperation,
calls on all cultures,
religions
to respect rights and dignity of human person
VATICAN CITY, November 8 (CNA) - As world religious leaders meet this week in Turkey for a conference seeking collaboration between the world’s three major monotheistic religions--Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Pope Benedict reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to “tirelessly” seek
cooperation between peoples, cultures and faiths.
Representatives from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity announced the second international conference today, which is focusing on the theme:
"Peace and Tolerance -
Dialogue and Understanding in South East Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia."
The event, taking place in Istanbul from November 7th to 9th, is being attended by His Holiness Bartholomew I, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Rabbi Arthur Schneider, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation of New York, and is largely under the patronage of Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.
Today’s Vatican communiqué announced that the conference will seek "to promote collaboration between the three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in order to favor
reciprocal respect and
mutual acceptance, and to achieve
peaceful coexistence in a world that has suffered so cruelly through wars and conflicts."
Pope Benedict XVI has chosen Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and of the Holy See Commission for Religious Relations with Jews, as his own representative.
According to the Vatican, Cardinal Kasper is being accompanied by secretary of the Jewish-relation commission, Fr. Norbert Hofmann S.D.B., and by Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
The Holy Father sent a message to Cardinal Kasper, expressing his best wishes to the conference participants, as well as his "appreciation for their strong commitment to
fostering understanding and cooperation between the followers of different religions."
The Pope wrote that, "The themes of peace and tolerance are of vital importance in a world where
rigid attitudes so often give rise to misunderstanding and suffering and can even lead to deadly violence.”
“Dialogue is clearly indispensable”, he continued, “if solutions are to be found to the harmful conflicts and tensions that cause so much damage to society. Only through dialogue can there be hope that the world will become a place of
peace and fraternity.”
"It is the duty of every person of good will, and especially of every believer,” he stressed, “to help build a
peaceful society and to
overcome the temptation towards aggressive and futile confrontation between different cultures and ethnic groups.”
The Pope further wrote that, “Each of the world's peoples has a
responsibility to make its own particular contribution to peace and harmony by placing its spiritual and cultural heritage and its ethical values at the
service of the human family throughout the world. This goal can only be achieved if at the heart of the economic, social and cultural development of each community is a
proper respect for life and
for the dignity of every human person.”On this note, Benedict pointed out that "A healthy society always
promotes respect for the inviolable and inalienable rights of all people," before quoting the Encyclical 'Evangelium vitae,' which says "'Without an objective moral grounding, not even democracy is capable of ensuring a stable peace.“
“In this sense,” the Pope said, “moral relativism undermines the workings of democracy, which by itself is not enough to guarantee
tolerance and respect among peoples."
The Holy Father went on to highlight the importance of
education in truth, and of fostering "reconcil
iation wherever there has been injury.
Respect for the rights of others, bearing fruit in
sincere and truthful dialogue, will indicate
practical steps that can be taken."
"Every person of good will”, he wrote, “
has a duty to work towards this goal. It is all the more urgent, however, for those who recognize in God the One who is Father of all, Whose
mercy is freely offered to all, Who judges with justice and offers to all His
life-giving friendship.”
“For Christians,” the Pope affirmed, “the Creator's
generosity is visible in ... Christ, our peace and our
true reconciliation."
Pope Benedict concluded his message by asking Cardinal Kasper to take the opportunity of the conference "to reaffirm the Catholic Church's strong commitment to work tirelessly for cooperation between peoples, cultures and religions."
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