"Educating young Christians and Muslims for justice and peace"
VATICAN
CITY, AUG. 3, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the
message from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for the
end of Ramadan.
* * *
Dear Muslim friends,
1. The celebration of ‘Id al-Fitr,which concludes the month
of Ramadan, accords us at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious
Dialogue the joy of presenting to you warm greetings.
We rejoice with
you for this privileged time which gives you the opportunity to deepen
obedience to God, by fasting and other pious practices, a value equally
dear to us.
This is why, this year, it seemed opportune to us to
focus our common reflection on the education of young Christians and
Muslims for justice and peace, that are inseparable from truth and
freedom.
2. If the task of education is entrusted to the whole of society, as
you know, it is first and foremost, and in a particular way, the work of
parents and, with them, of families, schools and universities, not
forgetting about those responsible for religious, cultural, social, and
economic life, and the world of communication.
It is an enterprise
which is both beautiful and difficult: to help children and young people
to discover and to develop the resources with which the Creator has
endowed them with and to build responsible human relationships.
Referring to the task of educators, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
recently affirmed: "For this reason, today more than ever we need
authentic witnesses, and not simply people who parcel out rules and
facts… A witness is someone who first lives the life that he proposes to
others." ("Message for World Day of Peace" 2012) Besides, let us also
remember that the young themselves are responsible as well for their own
education and fortheir formation for justice and peace.
3. Justice is determined first of allby the identity of the human
person, considered in his or her entirety; it cannot be reduced to its
commutative and distributive dimension. We must not forget that the
common good cannot be achieved without solidarity and fraternal love!
For believers, genuine justice, lived in the friendship with God,
deepens all other relationships: with oneself, with others and with the
whole of creation. Furthermore, they profess that justice has its origin
in the fact that all men are created by God and are called to become
one, single family. Such a vision of things, with full respect for
reason and openness to transcendence, urges all men and women of good
will, inviting them to harmonize rights and duties.
4. In the tormented world of ours, educating the young for peace
becomes increasingly urgent. To engage ourselves in an adequate manner,
the true nature of peace must be understood: that it is not limited to
the mere absence of war, or to a balance between opposing forces, but is
at one and the same time a gift from God and a human endeavour to be
pursued without ceasing. It isa fruit of justice and an effect of
charity. It is important that believers are always active in the
communities they belong to: by practising compassion, solidarity,
collaboration and fraternity, they can effectively contribute towards
addressing the great challenges of today: harmonious growth, integral
development, prevention and resolution of conflicts, to name just a few.
5. To conclude, we wish to encourage young Muslim and Christian
readers of this Message to cultivate truth and freedom, in order to be
genuine heralds of justice and peace and builders of a culture which
respects the dignity and the rights of every citizen. We invite them to
have patience and tenacity necessary for realizing these ideals, never
resorting to doubtful compromises, deceptive short-cuts or to means
which show little respect for the human person. Only men and women
sincerely convinced of these exigencies will be able to build societies
where justice and peace will become realities.
May God fill with
serenity and hope, the hearts, families and communities of those who
nurture the desire of being ‘instruments of peace’!
Happy Feast to you all!
From the Vatican, 3 August 2012
Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran
President
Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata
Secretary
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