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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 FrancisPiazza of Saint Francis, AssisiTuesday, 20 September 2016Men 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 f...
(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 rebe...
(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 f...
(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 cooperat...
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 gather...
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 bother...
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 ...
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 high...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Junno Arocho EstevesASSISI,Italy (CNS) -- Jesus' cry of thirst on the cross is heard today in the cries ofinnocent victims of war in the world, Pope Francis said.Christiansare called to contemplate Christ in "the voice of the suffering, thehidden cry of the little innocent ones to whom the light of this world isdenied," the pope said Sept. 20 at a prayer service in Assisi with otherChristian leaders, including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew ofConstantinople and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury. Far toooften the victims of war "encounter the deafening silence of indifference,the selfishness of those annoyed at being pestered, the coldness of those whosilence their cry for help with the same ease with which television channelsare changed," the pope said in his meditation.The popearrived in the morning by helicopter and was whisked away to the Sacred Conventnear the Basilica of St. Francis. After arrivingin a blue Volkswagen, the pope raised hi...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Junno Arocho EstevesASSISI,Italy (CNS) -- Violence in the name of God does not represent the true natureof religion and must be condemned by all faiths, Pope Francis said. "Wenever tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to justifyviolence. Peace alone, and not war, is holy!" the pope said Sept. 20 at theclosing ceremony of an interreligious peace gathering in Assisi. Following aprayer service with Christian leaders, including Orthodox Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew of Constantinople and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury,the pope joined religious leaders from around the world to appeal for peace andunity.Thereligious leaders also heard the experience of a victim of war from the Syriancity of Aleppo and prayed for those who had died in conflicts around the world.In hisspeech, the pope called on believers of every faith "to confront the greatsickness of our time: indifference.""It isa virus that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic an...
