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Catholic World News News Feature

All faiths must defend freedom, reject hatred July 18, 2008

Leaders of all religions should unite to protect freedom of worship, and to discourage religious-motivated violence, Pope Benedict XVI told an inter-faith assembly in Sydney on July 18.

After meeting earlier on Thursday morning with representatives of other Australian Christian communities, the Holy Father met separated with leaders of the Jewish, Muslim, and other non-Christian faiths.

"Our effort to bring about reconciliation between peoples springs from, and is directed to, that truth which gives purpose to life," the Pope told the group. "Religion offers peace, but more importantly, it arouses within the human spirit a thirst for truth and a hunger for virtue."

The Pope said that all religious leaders should provide young people with a sense of wonder at life and a recognition of the need to serve others. Such service, he said, "requires sacrifice and self-discipline, which in turn must be cultivated through self-denial, temperance and a moderate use of the world's goods."

The Holy Father strongly emphasized the inherent right to religious freedom, and praised Australia for its commitment to protecting the rights of believers. He said that a proper recognition of religion's role in public life "is all the more important at a time when some people have come to consider religion as a cause of division rather than a force for unity."

In this context, the Pope underlined the responsibility of religious leaders to reject any effort to exploit religious faith for the purpose of fomenting hatred and conflict. "In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence," he said, "the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity." Pope Benedict has often said that inter-faith dialogue requires an honest profession of one's own faith, and he gave an example of that approach in his talk to the religious leaders in Sydney. "The Church," he said, "approaches dialogue believing that the true source of freedom is found in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Christians believe it is He Who fully discloses the human potential for virtue and goodness, and He Who liberates us from sin and darkness."