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Heinrich Mussinghoff
Bishop of Aachen, Germany
Honourable representatives and excellencies of the different Christian churches and communities, of the great world religions and cultures of this world! Dear guests and friends from religion, politics and culture! Ladies and gentlemen! Dear sisters and brothers of the one human family! Children of God on this earth! I cordially welcome all of you, every one of you here in Aachen. We, that is the Roman Community of Sant�Egidio and the Diocese of Aachen, are very glad and we feel honoured that so many outstanding representatives have accepted our invitation. Welcome to Aachen, the diocese and the city! �War and Peace: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue�. That is the subject about which we will talk in the coming days; we want to work for peace in the world; we want to pray for peace. We are convinced that impulses and forces of peace are strong and effective in the religions of our earth. They can and will contribute considerably to the peace in the world. Because of our religious beliefs we know that nothing is more effective, more helpful, more necessary than the prayer to our God for peace. It is our wish that the spirit of Assisi, which has always inspired us since the first peace prayer to which Pope John Paul II invited in 1986, will spread in these days. We perceive each other with mutual attentiveness, sympathetic respect and growing friendship and we ask how can we and the different religions and cultures contribute to peace in the different crises of peoples on our earth today. This peace meeting is an encouragement to us because we are participating and we hope that strong impulses for intercultural meetings and dialogue will come forth from this meeting. The dove with the olive leaf of peace, which Noah sent forth from the ark, will rest here in Aachen in these days. The coloured rainbow above our heads announces God�s peace. We have come to Aachen. I thank the community of Sant�Egidio for having chosen our Episcopal city for this year�s peace meeting. Aachen is situated at the borders of three countries and connects them: the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. In the history and today, Aachen has been a city in the heart of Europe. Charles the Great had already tightened far-reaching bonds with the Pope in Rome and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to the Emperor of Byzantium and the Caliph of Baghdad. The exhibition �Ex oriente� reminds us of this relationship, the journey of the Jew Isaac from Aachen to the caliph Harun al Rashid in Bagdhad and his return with the white elephant Abul Abas. We are reminded by our cathedral which is dedicated to Mary and where the German kings were crowned in the Middle Ages. We are reminded by the International Karlspreis of the city of Aachen, which in fifty years has been awarded to personalities who have rendered a great contribution to Europe and peace in the world. Our Episcopal relief organisations MISEREOR, MISSIO and the missionary organisation for children, which work for development and peace in the world, remind us of this aspect. Today and in the coming days, you are here, important personalities and representatqives from Christian churches and communities, from great world religions, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and many others, men and women from culture and politics to talk about peace and to pray for peace. Today and in the coming days you are here, too, the many translators and aids, and most of all you, dear guests from far and near who participate in this peace meeting, the impulses of which you will take home for your peace service in every day life. I welcome you all in great joy. We will work and pray for peace. Benvenuti tutti voi al incontro della pace e alla preghiera per la pace in Aquisgrana. Shalom, Salaam, MHR, Peace. Friede euch allen
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