Regarding Pope Benedict XVI’s message to Muslims at the World Youth Day events [Archives:2005/871/Letters to the Editor]
Paul Kokoski
[email protected]
I commend Pope Benedict XVI for his message Saturday in Germany calling on Christianity and Islam to work together to end terrorism, which he said represented “the darkness of a new barbarism.”
The recent chain of blind violence we are witnessing around the world is the result of scandalous injustices and imbalances that create conditions favoring an uncontrollable explosion of the desire for revenge. When fundamental rights are violated, it is easy to fall prey to temptations of hatred and violence. Nonetheless, we must keep in check our base impulses and together work to build a global culture of solidarity that restores hope in the future to the young.
The Pope said “Terrorism of any kind is a perverse and cruel decision, which shows contempt for the sacred right to life and undermines the very foundation of all civil society…If together we can succeed in eliminating from our hearts any trace of rancor, in resisting every form of intolerance and in opposing every manifestation of violence, we will turn back the wave of cruel fanaticism that endangers the lives of so many people.”
Dialogue between Christians and Muslims it a vital necessity for our future. As the Pope stated: “If we can continue to coexist in dialogue, it will send a signal that the theory of a 'clash of cultures' is baseless,” adding “The more religious and cultural communities can learn about one another, the more they will realize that there is no reason for hostility.”
——
[archive-e:871-v:13-y:2005-d:2005-08-25-p:letters]
