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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday made an appeal for peace at the closing ceremony of the World Day of Prayer for Peace gathering in Assisi saying, "nothing is impossible if we turn to God in prayer.  Everyone can be an artisan of peace."

Below find the English translaton of Pope Francis' appeal for peace.

Appeal for Peace of His Holiness Pope Francis

Piazza of Saint Francis, Assisi

Tuesday, 20 September 2016

Men and women of various religions, we gather as pilgrims in the city of Saint Francis.  Thirty years ago in 1986, religious representatives from all over the world met here at the invitation of Pope John Paul II.  It was the first such solemn gathering that brought so many together, in order to affirm the indissoluble bond between the great good of peace and an authentic religious attitude.  From that historic event, a long pilgrimage was begun which has touched many cities of the world, involving many believers in dialogue and in praying for peace.  It has brought people together without denying their differences, giving life to real interreligious friendships and contributing to the resolution of more than a few conflicts.  This is the spirit that animates us: to bring about encounters through dialogue, and to oppose every form of violence and abuse of religion which seeks to justify war and terrorism.   And yet, in the years that have followed, numerous populations have nonetheless been painfully wounded by war.  People do not always understand that war harms the world, leaving in its wake a legacy of sorrows and hate.  In war, everyone loses, including the victors. 

We have prayed to God, asking him to grant peace to the world.  We recognize the need to pray constantly for peace, because prayer protects the world and enlightens it.  God’s name is peace.  The one who calls upon God’s name to justify terrorism, violence and war does not follow God’s path.  War in the name of religion becomes a war against religion itself.  With firm resolve, therefore, let us reiterate that violence and terrorism are opposed to an authentic religious spirit. 

We have heard the voice of the poor, of children and the younger generations, of women and so many brothers and sisters who are suffering due to war.  With them let us say with conviction: No to war!  May the anguished cry of the many innocents not go unheeded.  Let us urge leaders of nations to defuse the causes of war: the lust for power and money, the greed of arms’ dealers, personal interests and vendettas for past wrongs.  We need a greater commitment to eradicating the underlying causes of conflicts: poverty, injustice and inequality, the exploitation of and contempt for human life.

May a new season finally begin, in which the globalized world can become a family of peoples.  May we carry out our responsibility of building an authentic peace, attentive to the real needs of individuals and peoples, capable of preventing conflicts through a cooperation that triumphs over hate and overcomes barriers through encounter and dialogue.  Nothing is lost when we effectively enter into dialogue.  Nothing is impossible if we turn to God in prayer.  Everyone can be an artisan of peace.  Through this gathering in Assisi, we resolutely renew our commitment to be such artisans, by the help of God, together will all men and women of good will.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis told those present the closing ceremony for the World Day of Prayer for Peace gathering in Assisi, Tuesday, "we have come to Assisi as pilgrims in search of peace."  He said that, "God is calling us to confront the great sickness of our time: indifference", adding we cannot remain indifferent. 

The Pope recalled his visit to the Greek island of Lesbos along with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, where they saw the sorrow of war in the eyes of the refugees there at first hand. "All of them have a great thirst for peace.  We do not want these tragedies to be forgotten", he said.

"We do not have weapons", the Pope underlined.  "We believe, however, in the meek and humble strength of prayer."

Speaking about the importance of prayer the Pope stressed that,  "prayer and concrete acts of cooperation help us to break free from the logic of conflict and to reject the rebellious attitudes of those who know only how to protest and be angry."

The Holy Father during his discouse described peace as, "a thread of hope that unites earth to heaven, a word so simple and difficult at the same time", adding that, "we who are here together and in peace believe and hope in a fraternal world".

Below is the English translation of the Pope's discourse

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis

Piazza of Saint Francis, Assisi

Tuesday 20 September 2016

Your Holinesses,

Distinguished Representatives of Churches, Christian Communities, and Religions,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I greet you with great respect and affection, and I thank you for your presence here.  We have come to Assisi as pilgrims in search of peace.  We carry within us and place before God the hopes and sorrows of many persons and peoples.  We thirst for peace.  We desire to witness to peace.  And above all, we need to pray for peace, because peace is God’s gift, and it lies with us to plead for it, embrace it, and build it every day with God’s help.

“Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5:9). Many of you have travelled a great distance to reach this holy place.  You set out, and you come together in order to work for peace: these are not only physical movements, but most of all movements of the soul, concrete spiritual responses so as to overcome what is closed, and become open to God and to our brothers and sisters.  God asks this of us, calling us to confront the great sickness of our time: indifference.  It is a virus that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervour, giving rise to a new and deeply sad paganism: the paganism of indifference.

We cannot remain indifferent.  Today the world has a profound thirst for peace.  In many countries, people are suffering due to wars which, though often forgotten, are always the cause of suffering and poverty.  In Lesbos, my dear brother, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and I saw the sorrow of war in the eyes of the refugees, the anguish of peoples thirsting for peace.  I am thinking of the families, whose lives have been shattered; of the children who have known only violence in their lives; of the elderly, forced to leave their homeland.  All of them have a great thirst for peace.  We do not want these tragedies to be forgotten.  Rather together we want to give voice to all those who suffer, to all those who have no voice and are not heard.  They know well, often better than the powerful, that there is no tomorrow in war, and that the violence of weapons destroys the joy of life.

We do not have weapons.  We believe, however, in the meek and humble strength of prayer.  On this day, the thirst for peace has become a prayer to God, that wars, terrorism and violence may end.  The peace which we invoke from Assisi is not simply a protest against war, nor is it “a result of negotiations, political compromises or economic bargaining.  It is the result of prayer” (John Paul II, Address, Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, 27 October 1986: Insegnamenti IX,2 [1986], 1252). We seek in God, who is the source of communion, the clear waters of peace for which humanity thirsts: these waters do not flow from the deserts of pride and personal interests, from the dry earth of profit at any cost and the arms trade.

Our religious traditions are diverse.  But our differences are not the cause of conflict and provocation, or a cold distance between us.  We have not prayed against one another today, as has unfortunately sometimes occurred in history.  Without syncretism or relativism, we have rather prayed side-by-side and for each other.  In this very place Saint John Paul II said: “More perhaps than ever before in history, the intrinsic link between an authentic religious attitude and the great good of peace has become evident to all” (Address, Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels, 27 October 1986: Insegnamenti IX,2, 1268).  Continuing the journey which began thirty years ago in Assisi, where the memory of that man of God and of peace who was Saint Francis remains alive, “once again, gathered here together, we declare that whoever uses religion to foment violence contradicts religion’s deepest and truest inspiration” (Address to the Representatives of the World Religions, Assisi, 24 January 2002: Insegnamenti XXV,1 [2002], 104).  We further declare that violence in all its forms does not represent “the true nature of religion. It is the antithesis of religion and contributes to its destruction” (Benedict XVI, Address at the Day of Reflection, Dialogue and Prayer for Peace and Justice in the World, Assisi, 27 October 2011: Insegnamenti VII,2 [2011], 512). We never tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to justify violence. Peace alone, and not war, is holy!

Today we have pleaded for the holy gift of peace.  We have prayed that consciences will be mobilized to defend the sacredness of human life, to promote peace between peoples and to care for creation, our common home.  Prayer and concrete acts of cooperation help us to break free from the logic of conflict and to reject the rebellious attitudes of those who know only how to protest and be angry.  Prayer and the desire to work together are directed towards a true peace that is not illusory: not the calm of one who avoids difficulties and turns away, if his personal interests are not at risk; it is not the cynicism of one who washes his hands of any problem that is not his; it is not the virtual approach of one who judges everything and everyone using a computer keyboard, without opening his eyes to the needs of his brothers and sisters, and dirtying his hands for those in need.  Our path leads us to immersing ourselves in situations and giving first place to those who suffer; to taking on conflicts and healing them from within; to following ways of goodness with consistency, rejecting the shortcuts offered by evil; to patiently engaging processes of peace, in good will and with God’s help.

Peace, a thread of hope that unites earth to heaven, a word so simple and difficult at the same time.  Peace means Forgiveness, the fruit of conversion and prayer, that is born from within and that, in God’s name, makes it possible to heal old wounds.  Peace means Welcome, openness to dialogue, the overcoming of closed-mindedness, which is not a strategy for safety, but rather a bridge over an empty space.  Peace means Cooperation, a concrete and active exchange with another, who is a gift and not a problem, a brother or sister with whom to build a better world.  Peace denotes Education, a call to learn every day the challenging art of communion, to acquire a culture of encounter, purifying the conscience of every temptation to violence and stubbornness which are contrary to the name of God and human dignity.

We who are here together and in peace believe and hope in a fraternal world.  We desire that men and women of different religions may everywhere gather and promote harmony, especially where there is conflict.  Our future consists in living together.  For this reason we are called to free ourselves from the heavy burdens of distrust, fundamentalism and hate.  Believers should be artisans of peace in their prayers to God and in their actions for humanity!  As religious leaders, we are duty bound to be strong bridges of dialogue, creative mediators of peace.  We turn to those who hold the greatest responsibility in the service of peoples, to the leaders of nations, so that they may not tire of seeking and promoting ways of peace, looking beyond their particular interests and those of the moment: may they not remain deaf to God’s appeal to their consciences, to the cry of the poor for peace and to the healthy expectations of younger generations.  Here, thirty years ago, Pope John Paul II said: “Peace is a workshop, open to all and not just to specialists, savants and strategists. Peace is a universal responsibility (Address, Lower Piazza of the Basilica of Saint Francis, 27 October 1986: l.c., 1269). Let us assume this responsibility, reaffirming today our “yes” to being, together, builders of the peace that God wishes for us and for which humanity thirsts.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis presided over the closing ceremony of the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi on Tuesday afternoon. The ceremony followed an early afternoon of prayer – not in common, but separately, according to religious tradition.

Listen to Chris Altieri's report: 

Thirst for peace: religions and cultures in dialogue was the theme of this 30th anniversary celebration of the World Day, which Pope St. John Paul II first convoked in the city of St. Francis in 1986.

“We have come to Assisi as pilgrims in search of peace,” said Pope Francis to the gathering of more than 400 leaders from dozens of different traditions of faith and religion. “We carry within us and place before God the hopes and sorrows of many persons and peoples:  we thirst for peace; we desire to witness to peace.”

“[A]bove all,” said Pope Francis, “we need to pray for peace, because peace is God’s gift, and it lies with us to plead for it, embrace it, and build it every day with God’s help.”

Before the closing ceremony, the Holy Father delivered a meditation on peace to a gathering of leaders from various Christian Churches and ecclesial communities in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis.

“Before Christ Crucified, ‘the power and wisdom of God’ (1 Cor 1:24), we Christians are called to contemplate the mystery of Love not loved and to pour out mercy upon the world,” Pope Francis told the ecumenical gathering of Christian leaders come together to hear his meditation in the lower basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, ahead of the closing ceremony.

“On the Cross, the tree of life,” continued Pope Francis, “evil was transformed into good; we too, as disciples of the Crucified One, are called to be ‘trees of life’ that absorb the contamination of indifference and restore the pure air of love to the world.  From the side of Christ on the Cross water flowed, that symbol of the Spirit who gives life (cf. Jn 19:34); so that from us, his faithful, compassion may flow forth for all who thirst today.”

Much has changed in the three decades that have passed since Pope St. John Paul II held the first event: the Cold War has ended, while the shadow of international terrorism has grown and spread, and our failure to exercise good stewardship over creation has created new challenges to peace.

The “spirit of Assisi” however, remains unchanged, and each of us has a part to play in realizing the hope for peace that animates this event.

“Here, thirty years ago,” recalled Pope Francis in concluding his remarks, “Pope John Paul II said: ‘Peace is a workshop, open to all and not just to specialists, savants and strategists. Peace is a universal responsibility.’ Let us assume this responsibility, reaffirming today our ‘yes’ to being, together, builders of the peace that God wishes for us and for which humanity thirsts.”

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(Vatican Radio)  Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Buddhist religious leaders applauded the “Spirit of Assisi” in interreligious meetings launched by Pope St. John Paul II thirty years ago in the Italian hill town.  At the conclusion of a four day peace summit of interfaith leaders in Assisi, representatives who addressed the gathering thanked Pope Francis for, in the words of the Muslim representative from Indonesia, “his endless commitment for peace.” Pope Francis arrived in Assisi Tuesday morning to attend the final day of the meeting, organized by the Sant Egidio lay community.

Din Syamsuddin, Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian Council of Ulama, expressed “high appreciation” to the lay Community of Sant’Egidio for “having kept alive the spirit of Assisi” by organizing the event each year.  Noting that Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country, Chairman Syamsuddin said the cooperation “has brought concrete fruits of peace such as our common work in interfaith dialogue, peace education among youth, peace process and conflict resolution in Mindanao, South Philippines.”

Violent extremism in the name of religion is an abuse of religion

The gathering each year has helped moreover, he added, “to materialize our common ideals for peaceful coexistence and collaboration.  To say, and to show, with concrete actions, that violent extremism in the name of religion is indeed misuse and even abuse of religion. Never violence can use the name of religion, never!”

The Spirit of Assisi, he insisted, “is the true dialogue of life that should be continued for the sake of our world,” and he added, “we want to strengthen our commitment for this noble cause.  Let’s walk together in unity and diversity on the path to peace.”

Jewish Rabbi: despite diversity, it is possible to become friends and live in peace

In his remarks, Rabbi Brodman, Chief Rabbi of Savyon, Israel, recalled his own childhood at a Nazi concentration camp, and his frequent talks to young people today “because [he] who does not know history is condemned to repeat it.”  The Spirit of Assisi, he affirmed, “is the best example for humility and holiness and it is the answer to the tragedy of the Shoah and of every war.”

In Assisi, he stressed, “we say to the world that it is possible to become friends and to live together in peace, even if we are different.”  With the courage of dialogue, he said, conflicts can be prevented and a human world created “where everybody can recognize in others the image of God.”

Anglican Archbishop: listen, eat, come and trust

In an ecumenical prayer ceremony in Assisi, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby reflected on the misconception in today’s world that money makes one rich:  “We think ourselves rich.  Our money and wealth is like the toy money in a children’s game: it may buy goods in our human economies which seem so powerful, but in the economy of God it is worthless.  We are only truly rich when we accept mercy from God, through Christ our Saviour.”

And, he offered this consideration about Europe:  “The greatest wealth in European history has ended in the tragedies of debt and slavery.  Our economies that can spend so much are merely sandy foundations.  Despite it all, we find dissatisfaction and despair: in the breakdown of families; in hunger and inequality; in turning to extremists.  Riddled with fear, resentment and anger, we seek ever more desperately, fearing the stranger, not knowing where to find courage.”

God, he said, “offers wealth that is real and will bring satisfaction.” In order to receive God’s mercy, one must listen to the “most helpless and the poorest;” eat “above all in the Eucharist, in sharing the body and blood of Christ;” come to the Lord and trust in His mercy. “When we receive mercy and peace,” he said, “we become the bearers of mercy and peace.”

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I: need for examination of conscience

In his remarks, the Patriarch Archbishop of Constantinople said peace “needs a few cornerstones to uphold it even when it is endangered.”

“There can be no peace without mutual respect and acknowledgment,” he added.  “There can be no peace without justice;  there can be no peace without fruitful cooperation among all the peoples in the world.”

He also said peace comes from “mutual knowledge and cooperation”, and spoke of the need for the leaders gathered in Assisi to revive these.

“We need to be able to ask ourselves where we may have been wrong, or where we have not been careful enough; because fundamentalisms have risen, threatening not only dialogue with others, but even dialogue within our own selves, our very own consciences. We have to be able to isolate them, to purify them, in the light of our faiths, to transform them into richness for all,” he said.

Buddhist priest:  prayers and dialogue a “shortcut to peace”

91 year old Koei Morikawa Tendaizasu, Supreme Priest of the Tendai Buddhist Denomination of Japan described being able to pray with world religious leaders at these interfaith meetings as “one of the most joyous occasions” of his life.

“History has shown us that the peace attained by force will be overturned by force,” he observed.  “We should know that prayers and dialogue are not the long way but the shortcut to peace…We cannot, however, overlook the current world movements which separate dialogue from unity and cooperation and demand isolation and power.”

“In order to create a world with virtue where abhorrence exists and with love where hatred exists, we clergy must pray together hand in hand and continue to do our very best.”

Victim of Syrian war: Before, there was no difference between Christians and Muslims

One of the many victims of conflict attending the summit, Tamar Mikalli described being heartbroken when saying the name of her home city of Aleppo, Syria.

“I remember my many Muslim and Christian friends.  Now distinctions are made between Christians and Muslims, but before the war there was no difference.  Everyone practiced his or her own religion, in a land that formed a mosaic through different cultures, languages and religions.”

“When the heavy bombings were close to our houses,” she said, “we met with our neighbours, sharing bread and water, the most precious goods that go missing during wartime.  We encouraged each other and prayed.”  She explained how she and her family escaped to Lebanon and then finally were given refuge in Italy where they are doing their best to integrate, and asked for prayers “for peace and love to return to Syria and all over the world.”

Archbishop of Assisi:  need for a “world-scale policy of brotherhood”

Archbishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, described the interfaith summit as offering “a spirit of prayer, understanding, and peace that aims at being an answer in a world darkened by many wars. Wars that sometimes, improperly, even blasphemously and in satanic ways, weave religious banners.”

Addressing Pope Francis, Archbishop Sorrentino said, “during this year…you have taught us to live this culture of peace as the culture of mercy. That is a culture of love, capable of caring, of being moved, and of forgiving, according to the Evangelical beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”.

By practicing and testifying to our religious beliefs and by respectfully listening to those of others during such meetings, he said, “we have experienced true friendship.”

“But we need to go further. Our friendship must turn into a contribution for a world-scale policy of brotherhood.”

“Is it possible,” he asked, “for humanity to perceive itself as one single family? We believers think it is possible. This is the motive for our work, while we search for what unites us together and disregard what divides us.”

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Assisi, Italy, Sep 20, 2016 / 10:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In efforts for peace, indifference is the greatest sickness of our time, Pope Francis said at an interreligious summit in Assisi on Tuesday.

“It is a virus that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervor, giving rise to a new and deeply sad paganism: the paganism of indifference.”

“We cannot remain indifferent,” he said. “Today the world has a profound thirst for peace.”

The Pope spoke Sept. 20 during an international interreligious gathering marking the 30th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convoked by St. John Paul II in 1986.

The event, held in different locations, has been organized every year by the Sant'Egidio community. The last day of prayer led by a Pope, however, was held by Benedict XVI in 2011, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first historic meeting in Assisi.

At this year's gathering in Assisi, Pope Francis focused on humanity's thirst for peace and the toxic nature of self-interest and apathy in the face of violence around the world.

“Prayer and the desire to work together are directed towards a true peace that is not illusory: not the calm of one who avoids difficulties and turns away, if his personal interests are not at risk,” he said.

Peace “is not the cynicism of one who washes his hands of any problem that is not his,” Francis continued. “It is not the virtual approach of one who judges everything and everyone using a computer keyboard, without opening his eyes to the needs of his brothers and sisters.”

Above all, peace is a gift of God, Pope Francis said, explaining that it is only with his help that our works can bear fruit.

He acknowledged the distances many people traveled to be at the summit in Assisi, but stressed that working together for peace is not merely a physical movement, but most of all a spiritual movement – a spiritual response – of becoming more open to God and to our fellow brothers and sisters.

“In Lesbos, my dear brother, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and I saw the sorrow of war in the eyes of the refugees, the anguish of peoples thirsting for peace.”

“I am thinking of the families, whose lives have been shattered; of the children who have known only violence in their lives; of the elderly, forced to leave their homeland.”

Francis also spoke out against war and arms trading, which he said are the reason for much of the poverty around the world.

“We do not want these tragedies to be forgotten. Rather together we want to give voice to all those who suffer, to all those who have no voice and are not heard. They know well, often better than the powerful, that there is no tomorrow in war, and that the violence of weapons destroys the joy of life.”

Speaking out against religious fundamentalism, the Pope said, “peace alone, and not war, is holy!”

“We never tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to justify violence,” he said. “Peace, a thread of hope that unites earth to heaven, a word so simple and difficult at the same time.”

Peace means forgiveness, openness to dialogue, cooperation, and education, Pope Francis said, noting how leaders from all branches of Christianity were in attendance, all united in their prayer for peace.

“Prayer and concrete acts of cooperation help us to break free from the logic of conflict and to reject the rebellious attitudes of those who know only how to protest and be angry,” he said.

Our path toward peace “leads us to immersing ourselves in situations and giving first place to those who suffer,” the Pope stated.

“To taking on conflicts and healing them from within; to following ways of goodness with consistency, rejecting the shortcuts offered by evil; to patiently engaging processes of peace, in good will and with God’s help.”

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Vatican City, Sep 20, 2016 / 11:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While in Assisi for an interreligious prayer gathering, Pope Francis cautioned against an indifference that ignores the suffering of others as easily as flipping through TV channels, stressing that peace only comes through action and solidarity.

In the words “I thirst,” whispered by Jesus as he hangs on the Cross, “the voice of the suffering, the hidden cry of the little innocent ones to whom the light of this world is denied, the sorrowful plea of the poor and those most in need of peace” is audible, Pope Francis said Sept. 20.

Victims of war, “which sullies people with hate and the earth with arms,” cry out for peace, he said, noting how many live under the daily threat of bombs and are forced to leave their homelands in search of safety.

These people “thirst. But they are frequently given, like Jesus, the bitter vinegar of rejection,” he said.

“Who listens to them? Who bothers responding to them?” Francis asked, lamenting that “far too often they encounter the deafening silence of indifference, the selfishness of those annoyed at being pestered, the coldness of those who silence their cry for help with the same ease with which television channels are changed.”

These people, he said, are not merely a nameless face, but are all “brothers and sisters of the Crucified One…the wounded and parched members of his body.”

Pope Francis traveled to Assisi to mark the 30th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace that St. John Paul II convoked in the city in 1986.

St. John Paul II went back to Assisi for successive events 1993 and 2002. The last day of prayer led by a Pope was convoked by Benedict XVI in 2011, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first historic meeting in Assisi.

However, the Sant'Egidio community has organized an interreligious meeting every year since 1986, held at different locations. This year, the meeting is held again in Assisi, from Sept. 18-20 and is titled “Thirst for Peace.”

The gatherings attended by Popes have traditionally taken place in years marked by major conflict or threats of violence, such as the 1986 gathering, which was framed by Cold War tensions and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Later, in 1991, St. John Paul II attended the event in the backdrop of the war in the Balkans, while in 2002 he led the world’s interreligious leaders in praying for peace just months after the deadly Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Now, Francis himself attends with the looming threat of ISIS spread throughout the Middle East and, increasingly so, in Europe. His presence at the prayer summit is his third time in Assisi, the first having taken place Oct. 4, 2013, for the feast day of his namesake, and the second being just a few weeks ago on Aug. 4, to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the “perdono” indulgence.

This year the prayer event gathered 476 official representatives from different religions, along with more than 1,500 volunteers and thousands of other participants. There were 9 different major religions and 26 different religious confessions represented.

For the occasion, the diocese of Assisi gave Pope Francis a 112-page book covering the 30-year “Story of Assisi” with commentary from the key speakers of each major encounter since the launch of the event in 1986. It also includes the testimonies of two victims of war who share their personal experience.

After spending nearly an hour greeting participants from different religions after his arrival, Pope Francis met individually with leaders of several major religions, including Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople; His Holiness Ignatius Ephraim II, Syriac-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch; His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Church of England and Great Rabbi of Israel David Rosen.

The Pope then had lunch with 12 refugees who fled war in various countries around the world before leading Christians in a moment of ecumenical prayer in the lower part of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, during which all countries at war were named, and a candle lit for each one.

Pope Francis spoke after hearing brief addresses from both Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Welby, who made a distinction between the human economy of profit and the economy of God.

“In God’s economy, we are the poorest of the poor…because we think ourselves rich, because we have money,” the archbishop said, but stressed that our human wealth is like “a children’s game,” and that “we are only truly rich when we receive mercy from God.”

“Our imaginary economy not only deceives us…it drains our energies in the pursuit of illusions,” he said, noting that God, on the other hand, “offers us wealth that is real” through his mercy, which replaces the illusion of our wealth with “the reality of peace and love, because when we receive mercy and peace we become the bearers of love and peace.”

In his brief speech, Bartholomew said that today Christians are called to give “a testimony of communion.”

The patriarch stressed that communion among Christians today is commonly lived out as “communion which is martyrdom.”

“We are therefore thirsty, we must be thirsty…for thirst is the symbol of our need and yearning,” he said, and encouraged participants to turn to the other and let “a listening silence…permeate us,” because “there can be no conversion without listening.”

In his own reflection, Francis himself turned to the gathering’s theme, explaining that while Jesus certainly thirsts for water while hanging on the Cross, above all he thirsts “for love, that element no less essential for living.”

“He thirsts to give us the living waters of his love, but also to receive our love,” Francis said, and pointed to the reality that “Love is not loved,” which, according to some, is what most upset the Pope’s namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Francis “was not ashamed to cry out and grieve loudly” for love of the suffering Lord, the Pope said, adding that this same reality must perpetually be in the hearts of all as we contemplate Christ Crucified, “who thirsts for love.”

He noted how St. Teresa of Calcutta, whom he canonized Sept. 4, sought to quench this thirst through service to the poorest of the poor. The Lord’s thirst is quenched by our compassionate love, Francis said, adding that Christ “is consoled when, in his name, we bend down to another’s suffering.”

Pointing to Jesus' words in the Gospel “as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me,” Pope Francis said they challenge us, seeking “a place in our heart and a response that involves our whole life.”

As Christians, we are called to reflect on the mystery of “Love not loved,” and to pour out mercy onto the world.

“On the cross, the tree of life, evil was transformed into good,” Francis said, explaining that as disciples of the Crucified Lord, we too “are called to be ‘trees of life’ that absorb the contamination of indifference and restore the pure air of love to the world.”

After his reflection, Pope Francis and other major leaders of different forms of Christianity gathered alongside him closed their liturgy before heading to the concluding ceremony, during which representatives from all the major religions present issued a joint appeal for peace.

 

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Mexico City, Mexico, Sep 20, 2016 / 11:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- One day after they were kidnapped from their parish, Mexican priests Alejo Nabor Jiménez Juárez and José Alfredo Suárez de la Cruz were found murdered in a field.

The Mexican Bishops Conference confirmed the priests’ deaths and extended their condolences and prayers to the Diocese of Papantla, Mexico, where the priests served, and to the families of the two slain priests.

“We extend our pain and indignation at the violence exercised against them,” the bishops’ conference said.

“In these moment of pain, impotence and tragedy provoked by violence, we raise our prayers to the heavens for the eternal rest of these our brothers, and implore the Lord for the conversion of their aggressors,” the statement continued. “From the authorities we await an investigation to clear up what happened and the enforcement of justice against those responsible.”

“We pray to the Lord that he blesses our beloved homeland, and we ask for the intercession of Blessed Mary of Guadalupe, Queen of Peace, that united we search for integrity and the progress of our people,” the statement closed.  

The Diocese of Papantla also offered its prayers “for the eternal rest of their souls and that we may be united in prayer as a Church, so that Christ the King of Peace may bring harmony to our homeland.”

The two priests were kidnapped Sept. 18 from Our Lady of Fatima Parish in the city of Poza Rica, a town located in the north of the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz. The bodies of the two priests were found the following day in a field in the nearby city of Papantla.

A third man, identified by Veracruz authorities, was kidnapped alongside the two priests, but escaped and was found alive. Veracruz officials said that he had been placed under protection.

Poza Rica and surrounding areas in Veracruz have been the locus of drug and associated cartel violence for years, but it is yet unclear why the priests were targeted. Priests have also been the target of violence elsewhere in Mexico.

 

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New York City, N.Y., Sep 20, 2016 / 01:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican Secretary of State pleaded Monday for an increased commitment from the international community in addressing the root causes of forced migration, particularly those which are man-made, such as war and arms trading.

“Since human choices provoke conflicts and wars, it is well within our power and responsibility to address this root cause that drives millions to become refugees, forced migrants and internally displaced persons,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Sept. 19 at the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York.

“The greatest challenge before us,” Cardinal Parolin said, “is to identify and act on the root causes that force millions of people to leave their homes, their livelihoods, their families and their countries, risking their very lives and those of their loved ones in the search for safety, peace and better lives in foreign lands.”

Cardinal Parolin highlighted the increase in religious persecution as a cause of displacement, acknowledging that while “other groups are heavily targeted, many reports confirm that Christians are by far the most persecuted faith group,” and that many are even harassed in refugee settings.

“We must not abandon them,” he urged.

“Addressing the root causes of displacement of peoples,” Cardinal Parolin said, “requires strength and political will.”

“As Pope Francis has said, this 'would mean rethinking entrenched habits and practices, beginning with issues involving the arms trade, the provision of raw materials and energy, investment, policies of financing and sustainable development, and even the grave scourge of corruption.'”

Where the likelihood of illegal use is “real and present,” the Holy See has “repeatedly called to limit strictly and to control the manufacture and sale of weapons,” Cardinal Parolin stated.

“The proliferation of any type of weapons aggravates situations of conflict and results in huge human and material costs, provoking large movements of refugees and migrants and profoundly undermining development and the search for lasting peace.”

Cardinal Parolin stressed that eliminating the structural causes of poverty and hunger must include protection of the environment, assurance of dignified labor for all, access to quality education, and protection of the family, which he said is “an essential element in human and social development.”

Diplomacy and dialogue are the way to resolve questions, Cardinal Parolin affirmed, praising the summit for addressing “more effective ways of sharing responsibility” in the face of the refugee and migrant crisis.

While they are not recognized as refugees by international conventions, Cardinal Parolin added, “the Holy See feels itself compelled to draw urgent attention to the plight of those migrants fleeing from situations of extreme poverty and environmental degradation,” as well.

“They suffer greatly and are most vulnerable to human trafficking and various forms of human slavery,” he said.

“The Holy See thus pleads for a common commitment on the part of individual governments and the international community to bring to an end all fighting, hatred and violence, and to pursue peace and reconciliation.”

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