Vatican City, Sep 28, 2007 / 10:12 am
Every year the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue issues a message to all Muslims at the end of Ramadan, the month in which Muslims fast and pray. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, respectively the president and secretary of the council, have called in their letter for Christians and Muslims to promote a culture of peace.
Extracts from the letter are given below:
"In the troubled times we are passing through, religious believers have, as servants of the Almighty, a duty above all to work in favor of peace, by showing respect for the convictions of individuals and communities everywhere through freedom of religious practice. Religious freedom, which must not be reduced to mere freedom of worship, is one of the essential aspects of freedom of conscience, which is the right of every individual and a cornerstone of human rights. It takes into account the requirement that a culture of peace and solidarity between men can be built in which everybody can be firmly engaged in the construction of an increasingly fraternal society, doing everything one can to reject, denounce and refuse every recourse to violence which can never be motivated by religion, since it wounds the very image of God in man.
"We know that violence, especially terrorism which strikes blindly and claims countless innocent victims, is incapable of resolving conflicts and leads only to a deadly chain of destructive hatred, to the detriment of mankind and of societies.