Taking 300 religious leaders with him on pilgrimage to Assisi, Pope Benedict XVI said that believers must oppose violence to promote peace, Catholic News Service reports.
Marking the 25th anniversary of the first Assisi interfaith gathering for peace, hosted by Blessed John Paul II in 1986, Pope Benedict brought together the religious leaders and — for the first time — four philosophers who describe themselves as humanists or seekers who do not identify with any single religion.
The pope condemned the use of religion to excuse violence and the use of violence to impose a religion, as well as the growing violence resulting from “the loss of humanity” that comes from denying the existence of God and of objective moral standards.
“As a Christian, I want to say at this point: Yes, it is true, in the course of history, force has also been used in the name of the Christian faith. We acknowledge it with great shame,” Pope Benedict said.
Christian leaders, like all religious leaders, he said, must work constantly to help their followers purify their faith and be “an instrument of God’s peace in the world, despite the fallibility of humans.”
But a lack of religion is not the answer to world peace, he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama sent a message to participants, saying, “Through interfaith dialogue, we can unite in common cause to lift the afflicted, make peace where there is strife, and find the way forward to create a better world for ourselves and our children.”
The message was delivered by Suzan Johnson Cook, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, and Miguel H. Diaz, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, who attended the event.