In this past issue of the UK Tablet, their Vatican correspondent Robert Mickens attempts to score by tying together the Pope’s recent words encouraging his listeners to not be seduced by activism for the sake of activism and retain a place for contemplation in life, and the lack of comment from the Vatican on a recent peace march in Assisi:

It so happened that the paper hit the news- stands on Saturday afternoon as several thousand peace activists – including scores of Catholic groups – had gathered in the town of Assisi to rally for an end to violence and war in the Middle East. The town’s bishop and several other prelates, the Franciscans, Pax Christi and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah (via a message) participated in the peace march. But the Vatican newspaper and the Pope never acknowledged it. The gathering has taken place annually since 1961 to call for peace in different parts of the world and has customarily included mostly left-wing political parties and pacifist groups. But that did not deter Pope John Paul II from sending a message of support in 2002 when the groups held an extraordinary march for peace in the Middle East.

However, the current Pope has long been cautious of the Church entering into initiatives with groups that do not profess the Christian creed, concerned that such partnerships risk diminishing the distinctive nature of Catholicism. The most noted example was his opposition to his predecessor’s interreligious prayer meeting in Assisi in October 1986. The then-Cardinal Ratzinger refused to attend the gathering, which a number of conservative Catholic groups denounced as a form of syncretism. It is not surprising, then, that he has dissuaded any major celebration of that event’s twentieth anniversary by declining to participate in any such gathering. However, he did meet leaders of the Sant’Egidio Community this week, which will host a modest commemorative meeting in the Franciscan hilltop town next Monday and Tuesday. The biggest name on the programme is Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Pope John Paul’s life-long personal secretary.

It’s hard to see what Mickens’ point is: the Pope didn’t send a message to a peace march to which JP2 had communicated once during his 26-year papacy? And he’s not directly participating in a gathering which he’s known to have had questions about in the past? But he sent a message (scroll down) on the subject of the meeting anyway?

I am glad to take the occasion to greet the representatives of other religions who are taking part in any of the commemorations in Assisi.

Like us Christians, they know that in prayer, it is possible to have a special experience of God and to draw effective stimuli to dedicate ourselves to the cause of peace.

Still, it is our duty even in prayer to avoid inopportune confusion. Even as we find ourselves together to pray for peace, we offer our prayers according to the distinct pathways of our respective religions. That was the choice in 1986, and such choice must remain valid today.

The convergence of different religions should not give the impression that we are yielding to that relativism that negates the sense of truth itself and the possibility of drawing from it.

For his daring and prophetic initiative, John Paul II chose the evocative setting of this city of Assisi, universally famous for the figure of St. Francis. Il Poverello (the Poor One)incarnated in exemplary manner the beatitude proclaimed by Jesus in the Gospel: "Blessed are the peacemakers, because they shall be called children of God" (Mt 5,9).

The testimony that Francis gave in his time makes him a natural point of reference for those who even today cultivate the ideal of peace, of respect for nature, of dialog among perosns, religions and cultures.

It is important to remember, if we are not to betray his message, that it was his radical choice for Christ which gave him the key to understand that brotherhood to which all men are called, and in which even inanimate creatures – from "Brother Sun" to "Sister Moon" – participate in some way.

I also like to recall that the eighth centenary of the conversion of St. Francis coincides with this 20th anniversary year of the initiative for a Prayer for Peace by John Paul II. The two commemorations illumine each other reciprocally.

In the words of the Lord to Francis from the Crucifix of St. Damian – "Go, Francis, repair my House…", in his choice of radical poverty, in his kiss to the leper that expressed his new capacity to see and love Christ in his suffering brothers, began that human and Christian adventure which continues to fascinate so many men in our time and makes this city the destination of countless pilgrims.

I entrust to you, venerated Brother, Pastor of this Church of Assisi-Novera Umbra-Gualdo Todino, the task of bringing these reflections of mine to the attention of the participants in the various celebrations planned to commemorate the 20th anniversary of that historic event which was the Inter-
Religious Encounter of October 1986.

Please convey to all my affectionate greeting, along with the blessing that I impart to them, which I accompany with my best wishes and the prayer of the Poverello of Assisi, "May the Lord give you peace!"

It’s an interesting, rather lengthy statement, in which Benedict (successfully, I think) balances out our common humanity with subtle and entirely appropriate reminders of the dangers of syncreticism, and, in the end, a rather gentle point – for those to have ears to hear – that this gathering is in Assisi, the home of St. Francis, whose eyes were focused on Christ, and the appeal of whom, whether we realize it or not, is rooted in the consequences of his "radical choice for Christ."

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