To the venerable Brother Card. Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State

This month marks the tenth anniversary of the 1986 meeting in Assisi which brought together different religious traditions for an extraordinary day of prayer for peace. I am pleased that we will once again celebrate this encounter of reflection and prayer in which you, venerable Brother, will take part, thanks to the support of the Community of Saint Egidio. I gladly entrust you with the task of welcoming and greeting all who are present on my behalf and assuring them of my presence through prayer. It is greatly comforting to realize that the seed that was planted in Assisi continues to grow. This means that we did not pray in vain that year in the city of St. Francis! New energies of peace had been unleashed by that event in a time of history that was particularly difficult and complex on an international scale, and thus it has happened as Psalm 120 states: "To Yahweh when I am in trouble, I call and he answers me...". You have continued to pray for and advocate, at a time when war was spoken of and desired. Your pilgrimage of dialogue and prayer, promoted by the Community of St. Egidio every year, has undergone a process of evolution which has passed through significant stages after Assisi: Rome, Warsaw (for the fiftieth anniversary since the beginning of the Second World War, Bari, Malta, Brussels, Milan, again in Assisi, Florence and - presently -in Rome. Following this tradition I have always transmitted to you the expression of my spiritual solidarity, so that -- as I wrote to Card. Francis Arinze for the Bari convention (21-9-1990) -- prayer as "a wave of peace, may invade the continents, so that the feelings of hatred and violence, the purposes of vengeance disappear and truth and love triumph everywhere". I would have liked to have been personally present on this conclusive moment of prayer for peace today in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. I will be with you in spirit with affection and gratitude towards those present who generously commit themselves to keeping the fire of Assisi alive so that it reach a growing number of men and women. On this ten year path, believers have learnt to better know each other, to use a language of love, to spread the message of peace where they live. Let us pray God that humanity may truly leave behind the dreadful conflicts that have saddened His history and, in particular, this century. Let us also pray God that men and women purify their hearts from evil, from those feelings and behaviours that are fertile terrain for outbreaks of wars and hatred. With great respect for the peoples and religious traditions that each individual represents, through his or her goodwill I pray that humanity, will become evermore conscious of a common destiny to build peace. This is God's design. As stated in the Holy Scriptures: "...the Lord, the breaker of battle-lines; yours alone is the title of Lord" (Judith 9:7). Let God assist men and women today in their progression towards mutual respect, harmony and solidarity, together to build a future of true peace!

The Vatican, 6 October 1996