Sofia, Bulgaria, May 6, 2019 / 09:46 am
At an interreligious meeting in Bulgaria Monday, Pope Francis told Orthodox, Muslim, and other religious leaders that peace is both a gift and a task.
"Peace requires and demands that we adopt dialogue as our path, mutual understanding as our code of conduct, and reciprocal understanding as our method and standard," Pope Francis said in Sofia May 6.
A children's choir sang "We are the world" as Pope Francis entered Nezavisimost Square for the "meeting for peace" with five other religious leaders representing the Orthodox, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim, and Armenian Apostolic traditions.
"Peace is both a gift and a task; it must be implored and worked for, received as a blessing and constantly sought as we strive daily to build a culture in which peace is respected as a fundamental right," Pope Francis said.