Pope John Paul II in Lebanon
*Written by Pope John Paul II in October 1991
To my beloved Muslim Brothers and Sisters
Every year it is the custom of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to send a message of greetings, on behalf of Catholics around the world, to Muslims on the occasion of your Feast of the Breaking of the Fast at the end of the month of Ramadan. This year, because of the tragic effects of the past months of conflict and war in the Middle East, and the continued suffering of so many, I have decided to send you these greetings myself.
First of all, I wish to express my sympathy and solidarity with all those who have lost loved ones. As you Muslims believe, so do we Christians affirm with hope that they have returned to the merciful judgment of God. May this time of mourning be tempered by the awareness that God’s mercy and love are without limit. He alone knows “that which he has prepared for his chosen ones, what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of humans” (I Corinthians 2:9).
To all Muslims throughout the world, I wish to express the readiness of the Catholic Church to work together with you and all people of good will to aid the victims of the war and to build structures of a lasting peace, not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. This cooperation in solidarity towards the most afflicted can form the concrete basis for a sincere, profound and constant dialogue between believing Catholics and believing Muslims, from which there can arise a strengthened mutual knowledge and trust, and the assurance that each one everywhere will be able to profess, freely and authentically, his or her own faith.
You who have completed the arduous month of fasting according to the dictates of your religion give to modern societies a needed example of obedience to God’s will, to the importance of prayer and self-discipline, and to an ascetical simplicity in the use of this world’s goods. We Christians have also recently completed our annual Lenten season of prayer and fasting, for us a time of repentance and purification. These are values which we Christians and Muslims share, according to our respective religious beliefs and traditions, and which we offer humankind as a religious alternative to the attractions of power, wealth and material pleasures.
The path of those who believe in God and desire to serve him is not that of domination. It is the way of peace: a union of peace with our Creator expressed in doing his will; peace within the whole created universe, by using its benefits wisely and for the good of all; peace within the human family, by working together to build strong bonds of justice, fraternity and harmony within our societies; peace in the hearts of all individuals, who know from whom they have come, why they are on this earth, and to whom they will one day return. On this feast, my Muslim brothers and sisters, our prayer is that God will grant his peace to you and to all who turn to him in supplication.
While the horrors of war are still fresh in our minds, as are a continuing cause of suffering for humanity in so many parts of the world, a reflection on the realities which underlie war is perhaps not out of place, even at this time of your joyful feast. We must all study attentively the causes of war so that we can learn more effective ways to avoid it. Injustice, oppression, aggression, greed, unwillingness to enter into dialogue and negotiate, failure to forgive, and desire for revenge: these are merely some of the factors which lead people to depart from the way in which God desires us to live on this planet. We must all learn to recognize these elements in our own lives and societies, and find ways to overcome them. Only when individuals and groups undertake this Education for Peace can we build a fraternal and united world, freed from war and violence.
I close my greeting to you with the words of one of my predecessors, Pope Gregory VII, who in 1076 wrote to Al-Nasir, the Muslim Ruler of Bijaya, present-day Algeria: “Almighty God, who wishes that all should be saved and none lost, approves of nothing in us so much as that after loving him one should love his fellow, and that what one does not want done to oneself one should not do to others. You and we owe this charity to ourselves especially because we believe in and confess one God, admittedly in a different way and daily praise and venerate him, the Creator of the world and Ruler of this world.”
Source: monasticdialogue.com
0.000000
0.000000
"Journey into America" documentary 
Message of Pope John Paul II to Muslims on occasion of Eid Al-Fitr
Pope John Paul II in Lebanon
*Written by Pope John Paul II in October 1991
To my beloved Muslim Brothers and Sisters
Every year it is the custom of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to send a message of greetings, on behalf of Catholics around the world, to Muslims on the occasion of your Feast of the Breaking of the Fast at the end of the month of Ramadan. This year, because of the tragic effects of the past months of conflict and war in the Middle East, and the continued suffering of so many, I have decided to send you these greetings myself.
First of all, I wish to express my sympathy and solidarity with all those who have lost loved ones. As you Muslims believe, so do we Christians affirm with hope that they have returned to the merciful judgment of God. May this time of mourning be tempered by the awareness that God’s mercy and love are without limit. He alone knows “that which he has prepared for his chosen ones, what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of humans” (I Corinthians 2:9).
To all Muslims throughout the world, I wish to express the readiness of the Catholic Church to work together with you and all people of good will to aid the victims of the war and to build structures of a lasting peace, not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. This cooperation in solidarity towards the most afflicted can form the concrete basis for a sincere, profound and constant dialogue between believing Catholics and believing Muslims, from which there can arise a strengthened mutual knowledge and trust, and the assurance that each one everywhere will be able to profess, freely and authentically, his or her own faith.
You who have completed the arduous month of fasting according to the dictates of your religion give to modern societies a needed example of obedience to God’s will, to the importance of prayer and self-discipline, and to an ascetical simplicity in the use of this world’s goods. We Christians have also recently completed our annual Lenten season of prayer and fasting, for us a time of repentance and purification. These are values which we Christians and Muslims share, according to our respective religious beliefs and traditions, and which we offer humankind as a religious alternative to the attractions of power, wealth and material pleasures.
The path of those who believe in God and desire to serve him is not that of domination. It is the way of peace: a union of peace with our Creator expressed in doing his will; peace within the whole created universe, by using its benefits wisely and for the good of all; peace within the human family, by working together to build strong bonds of justice, fraternity and harmony within our societies; peace in the hearts of all individuals, who know from whom they have come, why they are on this earth, and to whom they will one day return. On this feast, my Muslim brothers and sisters, our prayer is that God will grant his peace to you and to all who turn to him in supplication.
While the horrors of war are still fresh in our minds, as are a continuing cause of suffering for humanity in so many parts of the world, a reflection on the realities which underlie war is perhaps not out of place, even at this time of your joyful feast. We must all study attentively the causes of war so that we can learn more effective ways to avoid it. Injustice, oppression, aggression, greed, unwillingness to enter into dialogue and negotiate, failure to forgive, and desire for revenge: these are merely some of the factors which lead people to depart from the way in which God desires us to live on this planet. We must all learn to recognize these elements in our own lives and societies, and find ways to overcome them. Only when individuals and groups undertake this Education for Peace can we build a fraternal and united world, freed from war and violence.
I close my greeting to you with the words of one of my predecessors, Pope Gregory VII, who in 1076 wrote to Al-Nasir, the Muslim Ruler of Bijaya, present-day Algeria: “Almighty God, who wishes that all should be saved and none lost, approves of nothing in us so much as that after loving him one should love his fellow, and that what one does not want done to oneself one should not do to others. You and we owe this charity to ourselves especially because we believe in and confess one God, admittedly in a different way and daily praise and venerate him, the Creator of the world and Ruler of this world.”
Source: monasticdialogue.com
Share this: