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http://www.newsmax.com/international/pope_peace/2007/10/21/42696.html
Pope Says Faith Can't Justify Violence
Sunday, October 21, 2007
NAPLES, Italy -- Visiting one of Italy's most crime-ridden cities, Pope
Benedict XVI told ayatollahs, rabbis, priests and patriarchs from around the
world Sunday that religion must never be used to justify violence.
Benedict condemned the "deplorable" mob violence that he said permeated life
in Naples, home of the notorious Camorra organized crime syndicate _ the
local version of the Sicilian Mafia.
The pope's visit coincided with a three-day meeting of religious leaders
from around the world on the role of religion and culture in creating a
violence-free world.
The pope told the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist leaders they must
work for peace and reconciliation among peoples.
"In a world wounded by conflicts, where violence is justified in God's name,
it's important to repeat that religion can never become a vehicle of hatred,
it can never be used in God's name to justify violence," he said. "On the
contrary, religions can and must offer precious resources to build a
peaceful humanity, because they speak about peace in the heart of man."
While the pope's message was universal, it had particular resonance in
Naples, which has long been one of Italy's most violent cities. Besides
petty crime, it has been wracked by Camorra turf battles over drug and arms
trafficking, prostitution rackets and other lucrative activities.
Naples for years had the highest murder rate of all major Italian cities,
although it slipped to second place after Bari in 2006, registering 3.3
reported homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Interior Ministry statistics
show. Naples' surrounding Campania region has for years also topped the
charts for robberies and car thefts.
Last year, there were calls for the army to be sent in after nine people
were killed in Naples in two weeks.
During an open-air Mass in Naples' main square, Benedict called for programs
in schools and the workplace to change a "mentality" of violence that he
said increasingly draws in young people who have few economic opportunities.
"There are so many situations of poverty, of inadequate housing, of
unemployment and underemployment, of lack of prospects for the future,"
Benedict told the crowd on a chilly and rainy day.
"It's not just the lamentable number of Camorra crimes, but also the fact
that violence unfortunately tends to become a diffuse mentality, insinuating
itself into social life, in the historic center and in the new and faceless
outskirts, with the risk of drawing in young people in particular," he said.
Benedict prayed before the relics of Naples' patron saint, fourth-century
St. Gennaro, in the cathedral. Faithful believe that a miracle occurs
several times a year when the saint's blood, contained in a vial, liquefies
when it is placed next to a box containing the relics of St. Gennaro's
skull. The blood did not liquefy during Benedict's prayer.
During the one-day visit, Benedict met with religious leaders including Din
Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic
organization in Indonesia, and Ayatollah Sayed Mousavi Bojnourdi, head of an
Islamic study center in Iran.
At lunch, however, only one Muslim representative was invited to sit at
Benedict's table _ Ezzeddine Ibrahim, a cultural adviser to the president of
the United Arab Emirates.
Ibrahim was among the 138 Muslim scholars who recently signed a letter to
Christian leaders urging Christians and Muslims to build on their common
belief in one God to work for peace.
Other religious leaders attending the meeting included one of Israel's chief
rabbis, Yona Metzger; Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader
of the world's Orthodox Christians; the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams; the head of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia;
and Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu and Zoroastrian representatives.
They were gathered for the 21st annual peace meeting sponsored by
Sant'Egidio Community, a Rome-based lay Catholic organization. Pope John
Paul II hosted the first such meeting in the hilltop town of Assisi,
birthplace of peace-loving St. Francis, in 1986.
Pope Says Faith Can't Justify Violence
Sunday, October 21, 2007
NAPLES, Italy -- Visiting one of Italy's most crime-ridden cities, Pope
Benedict XVI told ayatollahs, rabbis, priests and patriarchs from around the
world Sunday that religion must never be used to justify violence.
Benedict condemned the "deplorable" mob violence that he said permeated life
in Naples, home of the notorious Camorra organized crime syndicate _ the
local version of the Sicilian Mafia.
The pope's visit coincided with a three-day meeting of religious leaders
from around the world on the role of religion and culture in creating a
violence-free world.
The pope told the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist leaders they must
work for peace and reconciliation among peoples.
"In a world wounded by conflicts, where violence is justified in God's name,
it's important to repeat that religion can never become a vehicle of hatred,
it can never be used in God's name to justify violence," he said. "On the
contrary, religions can and must offer precious resources to build a
peaceful humanity, because they speak about peace in the heart of man."
While the pope's message was universal, it had particular resonance in
Naples, which has long been one of Italy's most violent cities. Besides
petty crime, it has been wracked by Camorra turf battles over drug and arms
trafficking, prostitution rackets and other lucrative activities.
Naples for years had the highest murder rate of all major Italian cities,
although it slipped to second place after Bari in 2006, registering 3.3
reported homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Interior Ministry statistics
show. Naples' surrounding Campania region has for years also topped the
charts for robberies and car thefts.
Last year, there were calls for the army to be sent in after nine people
were killed in Naples in two weeks.
During an open-air Mass in Naples' main square, Benedict called for programs
in schools and the workplace to change a "mentality" of violence that he
said increasingly draws in young people who have few economic opportunities.
"There are so many situations of poverty, of inadequate housing, of
unemployment and underemployment, of lack of prospects for the future,"
Benedict told the crowd on a chilly and rainy day.
"It's not just the lamentable number of Camorra crimes, but also the fact
that violence unfortunately tends to become a diffuse mentality, insinuating
itself into social life, in the historic center and in the new and faceless
outskirts, with the risk of drawing in young people in particular," he said.
Benedict prayed before the relics of Naples' patron saint, fourth-century
St. Gennaro, in the cathedral. Faithful believe that a miracle occurs
several times a year when the saint's blood, contained in a vial, liquefies
when it is placed next to a box containing the relics of St. Gennaro's
skull. The blood did not liquefy during Benedict's prayer.
During the one-day visit, Benedict met with religious leaders including Din
Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic
organization in Indonesia, and Ayatollah Sayed Mousavi Bojnourdi, head of an
Islamic study center in Iran.
At lunch, however, only one Muslim representative was invited to sit at
Benedict's table _ Ezzeddine Ibrahim, a cultural adviser to the president of
the United Arab Emirates.
Ibrahim was among the 138 Muslim scholars who recently signed a letter to
Christian leaders urging Christians and Muslims to build on their common
belief in one God to work for peace.
Other religious leaders attending the meeting included one of Israel's chief
rabbis, Yona Metzger; Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader
of the world's Orthodox Christians; the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams; the head of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia;
and Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu and Zoroastrian representatives.
They were gathered for the 21st annual peace meeting sponsored by
Sant'Egidio Community, a Rome-based lay Catholic organization. Pope John
Paul II hosted the first such meeting in the hilltop town of Assisi,
birthplace of peace-loving St. Francis, in 1986.
