World Religious Leaders Kick Off Peace Summit in Naples
NAPLES, Italy - Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox and other Christian leaders kicked off an annual inter-faith peace summit here Sunday with calls for a formal structure linking world religions.
The pope did not formally attend the summit, organised by the Sant’Egidio community, but met and lunched with the delegates as part of a pastoral visit to this impoverished southern Italian city.
“With respect for the differences between the various religions, we are all called to work for peace and… reconciliation among peoples,” he said.
Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Israel’s chief rabbi Yona Metzger and the imam of the United Arab Emirates, Ibrahim Ezzedin, were among those attending the summit.
“Civilisations don’t dialogue directly, but through those who carry their traditions and cultural values. So we should not speak of a dialogue of civilisations, but a culture of dialogue,” Bartholomew told the opening.
In a similar vein, Metzger proposed a “United Nations of Religions” that would “embrace the heads of religious communities that have a profound influence on their congregations”.
“If we sit down together around one table… surely we could arrive at effective solutions,” he said.
Ezzedin, too, advocated a formal structure linking world religions, saying: “This important grouping of God-fearing people cannot and should not limit itself to processions, conferences and seminars.”
“We need to form a permanent and authorised executive machinery for… executing any decisions we may make,” he added.
The Muslim leader however spoke harshly of “unjustified provocations in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan and … unfair dealings in Palestine” that have prompted “some Muslim individuals and groups (to go) astray and wrong themselves by violent actions.”
He added: “We are dismayed by the behaviour of some great powers who continue to act aggressively against other countries, by means of military occupation under fabricated pretexts… forced regime changes and blunt interference in other countries’ affairs.”
The Sant’Egidio summits are meant to carry on the “spirit of Assisi” and were launched 21 years ago by John Paul II in the birthplace of Saint Francis.
The first summit, dubbed a World Day of Prayer for Peace, was attended by the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and other religious leaders.
The pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, stayed away, reportedly out of concern that it put all religions on an equal footing.
Thus the timing of his pastoral visit to Naples has been billed as a “happy coincidence” by Sant’Egidio, a lay Catholic organisation that has mediated in several world conflicts.
The theme of this year’s peace summit is “A World Without Violence: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue,” with topics to include AIDS, immigration, the plight of Africa and the quest for peace in the Middle East.
Earlier Sunday, Benedict celebrated an open-air mass as rain fell on pilgrims huddled under umbrellas in Naples’ main square.
Lamenting “the sad phenomenon of violence” in the impoverished city, the pontiff said: “It’s not only a matter of the deplorable number of crimes of the Camorra (mafia), but also the fact that violence tends unfortunately to become a widespread mentality, insinuating itself into the fabric of society.”
Copyright © AFP 2007
It’s interesting, this gathering of the powerful, wealthy promoters of anachronistic fantasy and superstition. Looking at them dressed in their robes and dresses it’s hard to believe that this is the year 2007 rather than a troubled time during the Dark Ages.
Strange thing is that, while they talk about their common goals, they don’t have any! Each brand of fantasy is marketed as the ‘one, true faith’, each brand has ‘the one true god’ and each brand promises ‘exclusive eternal life for their believers.’
When are we going to move forward clinging to reality rather than nonsensical primitive beliefs?
Where’s the REAL nonviolent man of peace, the Dalai Lama, in the picture?
Did you notice that Pat Robertson, John Hagee, Oral Roberts and James Dobson weren’t there? Sure, Jerry Falwell and D. James Kennedy have good excuses–they’re dead–and Ted Haggard is too busy fighting the hunky young demons of homosexuality. But the other warmongers and torture advocates once again show America to be extremist, out of touch, violent and greedy. The right has extinguished liberty’s torch.
“The pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, stayed away, reportedly out of concern that it put all religions on an equal footing.”
No couldn’t have all religions on equal footing could we? We know that some religions are inherently better than others, just as some people are inherently better than others? What’s the saying, What Would Jesus Do?
When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865), (attributed)
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
I won’t take my religion from any man who never works except with his mouth.
Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)
I am determined that my children shall be brought up in their father’s religion, if they can find out what it is.
Charles Lamb (1775 - 1834)
Everyone ought to worship God according to his own inclinations, and not to be constrained by force.
Flavius Josephus (37 AD - 100 AD), Life
For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing.
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction.
Ian McKellen, Interview on the Today Show, May 2006
A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes.
James Feibleman
Such evil deeds could religion prompt.
Lucretius (96 BC - 55 BC), De Rerum Natura
Those who seek consolation in existing churches often pay for their peace of mind with a tacit agreement to ignore a great deal of what is known about the way the world works.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990
The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
Never confuse the faith with the supposedly faithful.
Randy K. Milholland, Something Positive Comic, 10-19-06
The only time anyone’s admitted they were a Christian before was when they were busy telling me why they’re better than me.
Randy K. Milholland, Something Positive Comic, 10-19-06
The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.
Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821 - 1890)
To believe in God or in a guiding force because someone tells you to is the height of stupidity. We are given senses to receive our information within. With our own eyes we see, and with our own skin we feel. With our intelligence, it is intended that we understand. But each person must puzzle it out for himself or herself.
Sophy Burnham
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven Weinberg (1933 - ), quoted in The New York Times, April 20, 1999
Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
A cult is a religion with no political power.
Tom Wolfe (1931 - )
agreed Daniel Smythe.
Look at these buffoonish clowns dressed in their silly midievil rags.
Religious “leaders” my ass, they are the leaders of purveyors of absurd ancient myths and fairy tales. Heads of churches filled with child molesters, and corrupt clergy. These leaders are among the most worthless of people on the planet, what do they contribute? Even politicians have more value, albeit barely.
don’t put put your trust in these phoney godmen. They all love money and prestige.
Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or LA cop that guns him down.
Edward Abbey
The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
It is too obvious to be the truth. LOL!
————————-
They refer to themselves as “God fearing” people. Do these people have a clue as to how that sounds?
“I am going to do something because I fear God!”
Why bother?
Reactionary’s…….. people wonder why this world can’t move forward. There is the reason right there!
““We need to form a permanent and authorised executive machinery for… executing any decisions we may make,” he added.”
Permanent executive machinery? I thought that was already formed thanks to certain governments we all know and love (yeah I threw up in my mouth a little too)..
“phoney godmen”
totally. i bet every one of them has a good amount of wealth. they’re ridiculous. all they have to offer is belief in something that doesn’t exist. if they want peace, how about telling everyone that their religion isn’t the only way? stop preaching about “hell” and “Salvation” and all that crap. i’m not impressed by these oafish and overdressed clowns
“God fearing”
yeah, “god fearing”. the crap i had to listen to constantly when i was growing up under “christian” parents. god never comes down to tell us what he or she wants, ha ha! really it’s “fellow religious robots fearing”
Even though I have lots of reservations when those at the head of power hierarchies come together, still I believe that the simple act of coming together and being in the presence of difference with an open heart can, in itself, provide a positive experience. I can only guess that the impetus for this gathering was compassion for the current plight of humanity and the planet and a wish to make a difference.
However, I, like some other writers, have difficulty trusting that “…a formal structure linking world religions…(with)a permanent and authorised executive machinery for… executing any decisions…” constitutes an effective strategy in a world where humans are more in need of deep connections and power-with each other than they are of being led around by one more power-over structure.
Additionally I was troubled by the apparent lack of participation by women.
Perhaps if the photograph had been a bit bigger I could have found a woman somewhere among these “leaders”. On the other hand I would also be conflicted because she had chosen to identify as part of “This important grouping of God-fearing people….”
I “fear” that people motivated by fear, and particularly fear of the Divine, will never be able to trust enough to seek and risk trying out new ways of supporting mutual relationships of love, caring and compassion. I am also saddened by the assumption that the Divine is pleased when we act out of fear. To me the belief that God (however understood) is pleased to be feared reduces God and in some ways makes God complicit in the innumerable heartless and mindless choices that result when fear is the impetus to action. How about “God loving people”.
I can only hope that my fears are unfounded and that a desire for contribution to the well being of the planet and all that lives upon it will help inspire creative ways for communicating among the myriad groups and the individuals that represent them in this gathering.