Cardinal presides over prayer vigil for peace at Roman parish

July 04, 2014

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, presided over a prayer vigil for peace in Syria and Iraq.

The vigil took place on the evening of July 2 at the Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome.

“War lurks in our hearts,” said Cardinal Tauran, because of three attitudes: “fear of difference, suspicion and jealousy, the thirst for possession.” Peace thus begins, he said, with the establishment of peace within ourselves through personal conversion.

Christians promote peace, he added, when they promote respect for the person, when they protect the family, and when they accept pluralism “not as a threat, but as a treasure.”

After encouraging those who work for disarmament and calling for a strengthening of international law, Cardinal Tauran returned to the theme of personal attitudes and actions: he called upon those present to forgive, to reconcile, to share superfluous goods, to be appreciative of the good of others, and not to be indifferent.

 

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Further information:

• In preghiera per la pace (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 6)