12/09/2005

Papal encouragement for inter-religious peace effort

Lyon, Sep. 12 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) sent a strong message of encouragement to participants in an international conference on inter-religious dialogue and the cause of peace, sponsors by the St. Egidio community, which opened in Lyon, France, on September 11.

The Pope urged all men-- and particularly the young-- to have the courage to work energetically for the cause of peace. Violence does not resolve problems, he said; but it complicates the prospects for the future. The only realistic hope for the future, he said, must be based upon peaceful dialogue and negotiated settlement of conflicts.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon read the Pope's message during a Mass opening the 3-day conference. The conference features noted a distinguished roster of speakers including the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams; the Grand Rabbi of Israel, Yona Metzger; the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy; the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio - news); the rector of Cairo's Al-Azhar University, Ahmad al Tayyib; and the founder and leader of the St. Egidio community, Andrewa Riccardi.

The meeting in Lyon is the 19th conference on "men and religions" organized by the St. Egidio community, a lay apostolate founded in 1968 which now counts 50,000 members active in 60 countries. The St. Egidio community is dedicated to prayer, solidarity, ecumenism, inter-religious work, and the pursuit of world peace. The group has been active in mediating several conflicts, particularly in Africa, and has organized inter-religious conferences to build upon the "spirit of Assisi" in each year following the 1986 inter-religious day of prayer organized there by Pope John Paul II .