Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land - 06/05/2001 info: custodia@netvision.net.il |
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Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land - 06/05/2001 info: custodia@netvision.net.il |
Pope in Syria
At the Great Omayyade Mosque - Damascus: 06.05.2001
ENGLISH
Dear Muslim Friends,
As-salámu ‘aláikum!
1. I give heartfelt praise to Almighty God for the grace of this
meeting. I am most grateful for your warm welcome, in the tradition
of hospitality so cherished by the people of this region. I thank
especially the Minister of the Waqf and the Grand Mufti for their
gracious greetings, which put into words the great yearning for
peace which fills the hearts of all people of good will. My Jubilee
Pilgrimage has been marked by important meetings with
Muslim leaders
in Cairo and Jerusalem, and now I am deeply moved to be your guest
here in the great Umayyad Mosque, so rich in religious
history. Your
land is dear to Christians: here our religion has known vital
moments of its growth and doctrinal development, and here are found
Christian communities which have lived in peace and harmony with
their Muslim neighbours for many centuries.
2. We are meeting close to what both Christians and Muslims
regard as the tomb of John the Baptist, known as
Yahya in the
Muslim tradition. The son of Zechariah is a figure of prime
importance in the history of Christianity, for he was the Precursor
who prepared the way for Christ. John’s life, wholly
dedicated to
God, was crowned by martyrdom. May his witness enlighten all who
venerate his memory here, so that they - and we too - may
understand that life’s great task is to seek
God’s truth and
justice.
The fact that we are meeting in this renowned place of prayer
reminds us that man is a spiritual being, called to acknowledge and
respect the absolute priority of God in all things. Christians and
Muslims agree that the encounter with God in prayer is
the necessary
nourishment of our souls, without which our hearts wither and our
will no longer strives for good but succumbs to evil.
3. Both Muslims and Christians prize their places of prayer, as
oases where they meet the All Merciful God on the journey
to eternal
life, and where they meet their brothers and sisters in the bond of
religion. When, on the occasion of weddings or funerals or other
celebrations, Christians and Muslims remain in silent
respect at the
other’s prayer, they bear witness to what unites them, without
disguising or denying the things that separate.
It is in mosques and churches that the Muslim and Christian
communities shape their religious identity, and it is
there that the
young receive a significant part of their religious education. What
sense of identity is instilled in young Christians and
young Muslims
in our churches and mosques? It is my ardent hope that Muslim and
Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great
religious communities as communities in respectful dialogue,
never more as communities in conflict. It is crucial for the
young to be taught the ways of respect and understanding, so that
they will not be led to misuse religion itself to promote
or justify
hatred and violence. Violence destroys the image of the Creator in
his creatures, and should never be considered as the fruit of
religious conviction.
4. I truly hope that our meeting today in the Umayyad
Mosque will
signal our determination to advance interreligious dialogue between
the Catholic Church and Islam. This dialogue has gained momentum in
recent decades; and today we can be grateful for the road we have
travelled together so far. At the highest level, the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue represents the Catholic Church
in this task. For more than thirty years the Council has sent a
message to Muslims on the occasion of Îd
al-Fitr at the
close of Ramadan, and I am very happy that this gesture has been
welcomed by many Muslims as a sign of growing friendship
between us.
In recent years the Council has established a liaison
committee with
international Islamic Organizations, and also with al-Azhar
in Egypt, which I had the pleasure of visiting last year.
It is important that Muslims and Christians continue to explore
philosophical and theological questions together, in order to come
to a more objective and comprehensive knowledge of each
others’
religious beliefs. Better mutual understanding will surely lead, at
the practical level, to a new way of presenting our two
religions not
in opposition, as has happened too often in the past, but in
partnership for the good of the human family.
Interreligious dialogue is most effective when it springs from
the experience of "living with each other" from
day to day
within the same community and culture. In Syria, Christians and
Muslims have lived side by side for centuries, and a rich dialogue
of life has gone on unceasingly. Every individual and every family
knows moments of harmony, and other moments when dialogue
has broken
down. The positive experiences must strengthen our communities in
the hope of peace; and the negative experiences should not be
allowed to undermine that hope. For all the times that Muslims and
Christians have offended one another, we need to seek forgiveness
from the Almighty and to offer each other forgiveness.
Jesus teaches
us that we must pardon others’ offences if God is to
pardon us our
sins (cf. Mt 6:14).
As members of the one human family and as believers, we have
obligations to the common good, to justice and to solidarity.
Interreligious dialogue will lead to many forms of cooperation,
especially in responding to the duty to care for the poor and the
weak. These are the signs that our worship of God is genuine.
5. As we make our way through life towards our heavenly destiny,
Christians feel the company of Mary, the Mother of Jesus; and Islam
too pays tribute to Mary and hails her as "chosen above the
women of the world" (Quran, III:42). The Virgin of
Nazareth, the Lady of Saydnâya, has taught us that God
protects the humble and "scatters the proud in the imagination
of their hearts" (Lk 1:51). May the hearts of
Christians
and Muslims turn to one another with feelings of brotherhood and
friendship, so that the Almighty may bless us with the peace which
heaven alone can give. To the One, Merciful God be praise and glory
for ever. Amen.
(Original text: French and Arabic)
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