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![Community of Sant'Egidio](../../../../img/uer/2004/en/titl_s.gif) |
APPEAL
FOR PEACE
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![Arcidiocesi di Milano](../../../../img/uer/2004/logo_mil2.gif) |
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Men and women of different religions, coming from 60 countries world-wide, we
gathered in Milan to invoke God's great gift of peace. We deepened our
respective religious traditions, we looked with compassion at the wounds of the
world we live in, the wounds of the peoples, of the little ones. We listened to
the prayer of many, pleading for the globalisation of solidarity, asking to work
for a better future especially for the children and the elderly, for Europe,
Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, all continents. We listened to the
prayer of those who implore for survival from AIDS, hunger, thirst, war,
terrorism. We prayed and we discovered once more the irreplaceable power of
prayer.
Our world seems to have forgotten that human life is sacred. Yet, God is close
to each and every victim of violence and wants the disappearance of violence
that possesses hearts and minds. God feels compassion for those who endure war,
for those who are in despair. God shows a new path, to be followed courageously.
Peace is the name of God. Thus, those who exploit the holy name of God to bless
war and terrorism curse the cause for which they fight, and alienate themselves
from God.
Prayer, listening, dialogue - even in these sad times - taught us to see beyond
resignation and fear, that affect the hearts and minds of many.
From the depth of our respective religious traditions we understood more
profoundly how fear, terrorism and war put humanity at risk for self-destruction
and how human beings end up surrendering to that very evil they aim to oppose.
Those who choose violence, discredit their own cause. Those who believe that
only more violence is the answer to the wrongs they have suffered, are incapable
of seeing the mountains of hatred they have fostered, and which will also affect
future generations. A world free from war and terror is possible.
This is the time for the courage to forge a new spiritual humanism, enabling us
to be less fearful and build a new world, the one we desperately need today.
This courage is nurtured by faith. Faith sustains the sacredness of the value of
the human being and it ties every person to a world where others exist. That is
why we believe in the need of continuing dialogue. Dialogue is the path which
gives a future to the world, making it possible for all to live together.
Dialogue does not leave anyone helpless: rather it protects. Dialogue helps us
see the good in the other, and brings out the best in each of us. Dialogue can
turn the stranger into a friend, and it liberates us from the demon of violence.
Dialogue is the art of the courageous, which heals the wounds of division and
regenerates life from the depths of the heart.
Violence is a defeat for everyone. Over time, the art of dialogue dismantles the
logic of terror, and overcomes injustice which creates resentment and violence.
From Milan, we ask first ourselves, and then all men and women of goodwill, to
live the courage of a new humanism, founded on our respective faiths. This is
the only way we see to build a world of peace.
May God finally grant to our times the splendid gift of peace.
Milan, September 7th, 2004
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