World prayer meeting

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The World Prayer Meeting for Peace is an interfaith meeting of high clergymen of different religions in the Italian city of Assisi , which was held for the first time on October 27, 1986 at the invitation of Pope John Paul II . Three more followed in 1993, 2002 and 2011. The world prayer meetings were a consequence of the Declaration Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council on the attitude of the Church to non-Christian religions in 1965.

First meeting on October 27, 1986

Pope John Paul II announced the meeting in St. Paul Outside the Walls on January 25, 1986 , exactly at the same place and 25 years after Pope John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council.

A total of 150 representatives from 12 different groups took part in the first world prayer meeting in 1986. Among them the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso as a representative of Tibetan Buddhism , Inamullah Khan ( Islamic World Congress ), the Roman Grand Rabbi Elio Toaff ( Jews in Rome ), as well as representatives of Hinduism , Sikhism and several other religious leaders.

Second meeting in 1993

The second prayer for peace in Assisi was intended to avert the war in the Balkans.

Third meeting on January 24, 2002

At the third meeting, known as the “Day of Prayer for World Peace”, Pope John Paul II named the event “to educate people for peace by spreading a spirituality and culture of peace”. The trigger for the meeting was the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent war in Afghanistan.

A total of representatives from twelve religions and 31 churches were present, including the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I. Before that, the 300 or so representatives took a special train from the Vatican City train station to Assisi, about 200 km away. At a joint celebration, nine church and religious leaders gave speeches, then each community held its own prayer for peace. After the criticism of 1986 that religions were being mixed up, prayer in the presence of all participants was dispensed with.

Together the representatives of the world religions proclaimed the so-called Decalogue of Assisi for peace. In these ten points they commit themselves to advocate for peace, the outlawing of violence in the name of God or religion, the preservation of human dignity, mutual dialogue, mutual forgiveness and the hope of justice and peace.

Fourth meeting on October 27, 2011

4. Interreligious Prayer for World Peace in Assisi on October 27, 2011

The theme for the fourth meeting was Day of Reflection, Dialogue and Prayer for Justice and Peace in the World .

In the run-up to the meeting, Pope Benedict justified his invitation by wanting to make a “syncretistic or relativistic interpretation of the process impossible” through his presence and participation, and through this gesture the content of the declaration on the uniqueness and universal salvation of Jesus Christ and the Church, Dominus To represent Jesus externally. Even at the fourth meeting, there was no common prayer of the churches and the other monotheistic religions. For the first time, non-believers also took part. The meeting ended with a shared commitment to peace.

Fifth meeting in September 2016

Thirty years after the first world prayer meeting, Pope Francis again invited to a meeting in Assisi, attended by over 500 delegates from more than ten religious communities.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The peace prayer of the religions in Assisi. The World Day of Prayer in Assisi (1986), in: R. Schwager, J. Niewiadomski: Religion generates violence - objection !, 2003. Pages 78-97. Published on the Internet on August 29, 2005, accessed November 28, 2011.
  2. Samerski, Stefan : Johannes Paul II. Verlag CH Beck, 2008, page 120.
  3. Pacem in Terris: An Enduring Quest. Message from His Holiness Pope John Paul II on the celebration of World Day of Peace on January 1, 2003.Press release of December 17, 2002, accessed on November 28, 2011.
  4. ^ Word of the Permanent Council of the German Bishops' Conference on the Peace Meeting of Religions on January 24, 2002 in Assisi. Press release of January 22, 2002, accessed November 28, 2011.
  5. World prayer meeting: By train to Assisi, ORF, report from January 24, 2002, accessed on November 28, 2011.
  6. ^ Decalogue of Assisi for Peace, Vatican page, accessed on November 28, 2011.
  7. ^ Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world, vatican.va, November 4, 2011.
  8. Deutschlandradio Kultur: Das Assisi-Dilemma, article from October 22, 2011, accessed on November 24, 2011.
  9. ^ The Truth about Assisi. Never-Before-Seen Words from Benedict XVI, October 26, 2011 article, accessed November 24, 2011.
  10. ^ The Assisi Declaration of Peace October 27, 2011, accessed April 2, 2015.
  11. [1] accessed on July 11, 2018.

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