Vatican City, Sep 7, 2004 / 22:00 pm
In view of the third anniversary of September 11, 2001, Pope John Paul II strongly affirmed in a message to the participants of an inter-religious summit held in Milan from September 5-7, that conflicts and violence are not “an inevitable outcome of history” and that “peace is always possible,” even though much work and cooperation is needed to deal with the roots of violence.
The Holy Father remembered the World Day of Prayer for Peace which took place in Assisi in 1986 and brought together representatives from all religions in the world to pray together for peace in the world, and noted with joy that “the spirit of Assisi” lives on and continues to grow in numbers of participants.
The Pope recalls that in their 1993 meeting in Milan, religious leaders made an appeal to the world: "No hatred, no conflict, no war should find its incentive in religion. War cannot be motivated by religions. May words from religions always be words of peace!"
He said that over the years many people have been inspired by this call, but added that "unfortunately new conflicts have arisen, in fact, there is a widespread mentality for which conflicts among religious worlds and civilizations are considered almost an inevitable outcome of history."