Vatican City, Nov 17, 2003 / 22:00 pm
In the annual message from the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue to Muslims on the occasion of the end of “Id Al-Fitr”, the feast that concludes the month of Ramadan, the Vatican called on Muslims around the world to cooperate in building peace.
The message, entitled, “Constructing peace today,” was published in French, English and Italian and is signed by the president of the council, Archbishop Michael L. Fitzgerald.
This year Archbishop Fitzgerald considers the encyclical by Pope John XXIII “Pacem in terris,” in which the pope refers to peace as “an edifice resting on four pillars: truth, justice, love and freedom.”
“Truth is the first pillar,” affirms the council’s president, “for it includes the recognition that human beings are not their own masters, but are called the fulfill the will of God.” “Truth moreover brings each individual to acknowledge his or her own rights, but also to recognize his or her own duties towards others.”