VISIT TO
H.E. RENATO RAFFAELE
CARDINAL MARTINO
LECTURE ON
PEACE, VIOLENCE AND
RELIGIONS
St.
1. I am very happy to be here at St. Aloysius College to offer a reflection on the theme of Peace, Violence and Religions. This is not a simple subject to discuss because it involves some of the most complex situations of our contemporary world: the new look of war and peace. Conflict in general and war in particular, have, in fact, changed their appearance. They are more horizontal than vertical, more widespread than localized more fragmented than united, seen almost daily rather than rarely, closer than they are distant and they are more immaterial (and even virtual) than they are material.
The events of September 11, 2001 showed that the death of three thousand people was easily carried out – as easily as a hijacker carrying a knife onto a plane. In this regard a careful observer spoke of “democratic wars”[1]. These significant changes were brought about by the phenomenon of globalization. It is necessary to take into account the completely new context in which the problems of peace and of war are found, in order to identify the negative conditions in the quest for peace and to discern the new opportunities to be employed with evangelical hope to create better conditions for peace.
Globalization has changed the social meaning of peace, but has not changed the anthropological and ethical dimension of peace. An additional interpretation of today’s world, in its main dynamics and prophetic courage is needed to announce the call for peace in this new globalized context. At the same time, it also serves as a means for recovering the full meaning and understanding of peace."
We are then
able to seek out the new requirements of peace, along with the roads we
can
travel to build it and to better realize where
we have fallen short in our quest.
In this new context we must ask ourselves, above all, what is to be the role of
religion in the
promotion of peace.
2.
Religion,
every authentic religion, must never become a pretext for fueling
conflict,
hatred and violence. I
am deeply
convinced that a sincere religious sentiment is the principal antidote
for
violence and conflicts. In
this
perspective, individuals and religious communities must clearly
manifest a
complete and radical rejection of violence, all violence, starting with
the
violence that would wrap itself in the mantle of religion, even
appealing to
the Holy Name of God as it commits offences against humanity. There is no religious end
that can justify
the practice of man committing violence against man.
Indeed, in the present moment of history,
humanity is waiting to see believers make gestures of peace and
solidarity, and
humanity is waiting to hear words of hope.
At this time, I would ask you
to allow me to
call to mind the great Pope John Paul II. The beloved Pope John Paul
constantly
invited believers to cultivate dialogue, and to sustain it with the
concrete
commitment never to stop listening to one another.
He indicated mutual listening as a response
to the disturbing questions that we face, as a behaviour useful for
dispelling
atmospheres of distrust and misunderstanding.
John Paul II invited us to take note, everyday with
renewed wonder, of
the variety by which human life is manifested and of the great number
of unique
gifts, proper to different cultures and traditions, that form a
multifaceted
and many-shaped linguistic, cultural and artistic cosmos: this immense variety is
called to form an
integrated whole in an exchange of ideas and in dialogue, for the
enrichment
and well-being of all people.
3.
This
enlightening teaching of John Paul II is very useful for meeting the
problems
of our day. With
the situations of
conflict facing our world as it moves into the third millennium,
dialogue
between religions must find its loftiest and most noble motivation in
the
promotion of justice and solidarity.
The
believers of the various religions need to have a profound awareness of
the
degree to which wounds are still open and bleeding:
the wounds of injustice; of ethnic and social
conflicts; of violence and war; of disregard for the rights of
individuals and
of peoples, which are the source of suffering and endemic poverty; of
unemployment and a loss of dignity; of large migratory movements and of
new
threats of war that are always lying in wait.
Believers need to pray so that we may come to know the way
of just
relations among ourselves. There
can be
no true peace without respect for the dignity of individuals and
peoples, for
the rights and duties of each person, without an equitable distribution
of
benefits and burdens between individuals and society as a whole. Oppression and
marginalization are often the
origin of manifestations of violence and terrorism.
Tragic situations, found in many parts of our
world, demonstrate the absolute necessity of dialogue and negotiation. We must open our hearts
and minds to the
great challenges that await us: the
defence of the sacredness of human life under all circumstances; the
promotion
of the family, the fundamental cell of society; the elimination of
poverty,
thanks to efforts made to foster development, reduce debt and open up
channels
of international trade; respect for human rights in every situation,
with special
attention to those people who are most vulnerable — children,
women and
refugees; disarmament, the reduction of the sale of arms to poor
countries and
the consolidation of peace after the end of conflicts; the fight
against
widespread diseases and access for the poorest to basic health care and
medicines; safeguarding the environment and preventing natural
disasters; the
rigorous application of international law and international conventions.
4.
Dialogue between religions is a
necessary prerequisite for meeting the complex and difficult needs of
our
world. Above all,
dialogue makes it
possible for us to overcome the danger of religious fundamentalism,
which today
is very threatening and widespread.
Not
long ago, there was a certain political fundamentalism that was
predominant;
today, however, there is often the risk of falling into forms of
religious
fundamentalism. Just
as in the recently
ended twentieth century certain ideological concepts corrupted the
truth of
politics, so the power of men over other men threatens today to exploit
religions, deeply disfiguring their intrinsic truth.
The true face of religion is tarnished if
religion is used to justify men fighting against other men. Despite this
year’s tragic terrorist attacks,
with their devastating toll of death and suffering, we can nonetheless
take
solace in the enormous progress that the human conscience continues to
make,
strengthening the conviction that no authentically religious cause can
bring us
to treat another person as an enemy against whom we must fight.
5.
The
message of Jesus invites us to place value on what we share in common
and on
what unites us, and to see these as the foundation and measure of those
things
that set individuals and peoples apart.
Of course, considering various and diversified forms of
social and
political organization can have a powerfully innovative and liberating
value
with respect to mechanisms of oppressive and unjust force. Looking beyond borders, of
whatever type
these may be, and learning from others — seeing a value in
their and our own
diversity — are elements that free us from narrow limits and
that allow people
to come together and appreciate each other.
All of this promotes peace and solidarity.
In certain moments of history, however, a
proper awareness of just how much we are all alike in our inner-most
being,
despite our differences, will have an even more innovative significance
for
relations among peoples. This
same
positive effect will result from correctly seeing the value of our
differences,
that is, understanding them as representing the inexhaustible richness
of our
shared human nature. Political
regimes
are sometimes afraid of this demanding truth.
But they can overcome this fear by being open to
considering the value
of the diversity of others, by welcoming a spirit of dialogue; but even
more,
they can overcome this fear by recognizing the common bonds uniting all
men and
women in the one human family. This
kind
of recognition represents a great service to humanity and to human
rights. There is a
time to learn from diversity;
there is a time to learn from those things that we share in common. In our present day, it is
this second
scenario that must be more prevalent.
6.
In
the light of this demanding perspective it is possible to meet the most
dangerous challenge of our time:
terrorism. Terrorism
is among the
most brutal of behaviours tearing the international community apart
today and
sowing death, hatred, desire for revenge and retaliation, and a spirit
of
opposition. This
malevolent social
phenomenon has always been present, even in the past, but in recent
years,
especially after the end of the Cold War, it has shown alarming new
outbreaks. It has
been transformed from
the isolated acts of single extremists into a sophisticated network of
political, technological and economic cooperation; it often has access
to
immense financial resources and plans strategies on a vast scale,
striking
innocent people who are in no way connected with the issues involving
the
terrorists. Places
of daily life are
targeted and not military objectives within the context of a declared
war. Terrorism
plans its activities in secrecy and
strikes surreptitiously, outside the scope of the rules by which men
have
always tried in some way to regulate their conflicts.
Using their own followers as weapons to be
unleashed against defenceless people who are not forewarned, terrorist
organizations show forth with ever greater vehemence the death-instinct
that
drives them, an instinct that is already implicitly found in their
choice of
terror as a political and military strategy.
All of this makes terrorism unacceptable in the most
absolute of
manners. It is
based on contempt for human
life. No end can
justify the sacrifice
of human life, since man is always an end and never a means for a
further
end. The absolute
dignity of the human
person derives from the fact that men and women are, in the entire
universe,
the only creature that God has willed for itself[2].
7.
Terrorism,
besides killing innocent victims, gives rise to isolation, distrust and
closed-mindedness, all of which inevitably lead to a climate of
perennial
hatred. Individuals
and Nations struck
by terrorism are tempted to turn to retaliation and revenge: in this way, violence
engenders further violence
and brings into its tragic vicious circle even future generations,
which
inherit the hatred that divides the present generations. Terrorism is an attack on
human dignity: it
is an aggression committed against every
person because all people can be targeted by it; it is for that reason
an
offence committed against all humanity.
And it is for this same reason that there exists a right
to defend
oneself against terrorism. International
cooperation in the fight against terrorist activity must also include a
particular commitment on the level of politics, to resolve with courage
and
determination the problems that, in certain dramatic situations, can
add fuel
to terrorism. The
recruitment of
terrorists, in fact, is more easily accomplished in social contexts
where
hatred is sown, where rights are trampled, and in situations where
injustices
have been tolerated for too long.
8.
In
his message for the World Day of Peace 2006, the Holy Father Benedict
XVI
warned that at the roots of terrorism we often find fundamentalism or
nihilism. Fundamentalism
consists in the
belief that one is in complete possession of the truth, such that one
can
impose it by force. Truth,
however, must
be continually sought; it can only be contemplated and never possessed,
because
God is truth (cf. Jn 14:6). For this reason, any kind
of fundamentalism
is a behaviour that is radically contrary to faith in God. To the nature of the truth
that one presumes
to possess, whether this truth is philosophical, political or religious
in
nature, there correspond different forms of intolerance that can result
in
terrorist violence. Nihilism
too, that
is, the belief that no truth and no real objective foundation exists,
can be
used to justify terrorist violence as the extreme cry of desperation or
as the
lone affirmation of a single individual.
Every authentic believer knows that the Truth is larger
than the
believer himself. For
this reason, it is
profanation and blasphemy to proclaim oneself a terrorist in
God’s name, to
kill and visit violence upon people in God’s name. In such cases, not only
are men and women
being exploited, but God too is the subject of exploitation, in that
one
believes to be totally in possession of God’s truth rather
than being possessed
by that truth. In
the end, terrorism is
a new chapter in the history of a mankind that wants to make itself God
by
definitively ridding itself of God.
9.
No
religion can tolerate terrorism, much less preach it.
This is particularly true for the great
monotheistic religions. Terrorism,
in
fact, is contrary to faith in God the Creator of mankind, contrary to a
God who
cares for people and loves them, contrary to a God who is Father of all
men and
women. It is
totally contrary to faith
in Christ the Lord, the One who, sent by the Father, said to us: “Love one
another; even as I have loved you,
so also must you love one another” (Jn
13:34); the One who prayed to the Father that we “may all be
one” (Jn 17:21) in him. For this reason, the
Christian faith, the
great monotheistic religions and the great religions of mankind should
all work
together among themselves to spread a greater awareness of the unity of
the
human race, in order to eliminate the cultural causes of terrorism,
teaching
that the dignity of the human person is great in God’s eyes
and that violence
can never be done in the name of the One who is Love.
From an ever greater cooperation there can
arise a common effort, a spiritual and educational effort, against
fundamentalism, regardless of the guise under which it may operate.
10.
Public
opinion is often led to believe that there is a connection between
terrorism
and religion. Nothing
could be further
from the truth. Such
an erroneous
conception can only be effectively corrected by cooperation between
religions
with the intention of showing in the behaviour of their own members the
complete incompatibility between religion and violence.
This is a new area for ecumenical and
inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, a new form of service that
religions
can render to humanity and to peace among peoples.
A commitment of this type on the part of
religions should be particularly careful to follow the path of constant
dialogue that opens the participating parties to mutual understanding,
respect
and trust. There is
a right to defend
oneself against terrorism, but we must not forget that the true defence
against
terrorism is found in the spiritual and cultural order.
Even when human justice has been restored, we
must not forget that, as Saint Gregory the Great wrote,
“human justice, when
compared to divine justice, is injustice; it is like a lantern shining
in the
darkness: placed in
the bright splendour
of the sun, its light can no longer be seen”[3]. Love passes through
justice and, in a certain
sense, seeks justice and sustains it, but it is not reduced to justice. Love fosters and assists
reconciliation,
bringing it ever closer to absolute justice, which is Divine Mercy. The service that religions
can render to
peace and to the fight against terrorism consists precisely in the
pedagogy of
love and reconciliation.
11.
Peace,
which is an enormously great good, although sometimes difficult to
achieve, is
the result of a just order in the relationships existing between human
beings,
regardless of their race, color, culture or social class. This peace is possible on
the condition that
the dignity of the human person and fundamental human rights are
respected. It is a
peace that calls on
all people to fulfill their own duty towards others.
This entails a sincere cooperation, an
attitude of responsibility, a society built on truth, justice, freedom
and
above all on love. Everyone
must make
their proper contribution to the promotion of peace through daily
gestures of
peace. Gestures of
peace, at every
level, are one of the most effective means for bringing about peace. Such gestures arise in the
heart and are an
act of the will; they find expression in generous decisions aimed at
mutual
understanding, reconciliation and forgiveness.
The hearts of those who make gestures of peace become
oriented to the
common good, and such gestures are a powerful source of social and
civil
education. Peace,
besides being the
result of political decisions made at various national and
international levels,
is also the fruit of countless gestures of peace made by each one of us: it is here that we find
the secret of that
spiritual revolution that is so urgently needed in our modern day, a
spiritual
revolution capable of renewing hearts and minds, and therefore capable
of
making the world a place of greater solidarity and of greater goodness.