Reasserting hope in dialogue

The annual international meeting promoted by the Sant’Egidio Community took place in Paris, from 22 to 24 September, the 38th stage of a journey that began with the meeting of religions for peace in Assisi, on 27 October 1986, called for by John Paul II.

The conference’s title, ‘Imagining Peace’. ‘We live in a time when peace is no longer on the agenda’, says Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Sant’Egidio Community and indicates the aim of the conference: ‘Religions, and with them men of culture, humanists, philosophers and politicians, are coming together to reaffirm hope in dialogue’.

The Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich, who had recently returned from Israel, states that even in situations of war and hatred ‘there are those who keep the small flame of the yearning of religions burning to preserve and maintain the spirit of peace’.

During the conference there were 21 forums addressing various topics: migration, the future of Europe, the role of the Mediterranean, Africa, the challenge of faiths in Asia, solidarity, nuclear power, and dialogue between religions.

Mgr. Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakk Kankanamalage, secretary of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue,during his

speech at the Forum on ‘Universal Brotherhood in a World at War’, emphasised how so many founders and teachers of the great religions have imagined a world without war, in which peace and love are the guiding principles of human existence and urged everyone to continue dreaming ‘with head, heart and hands to build a culture of peace’, ‘believing that, together, we can create the world we dream of, where universal brotherhood is not just a hope, but a reality”.

How to imagine universal brotherhood, and peace? ‘Through dialogue, religions can imagine peace’ reads the Appeal for Peace that was read during the final ceremony, on the last day, and in which the representatives of all religions present called for a profound turning point:

‘The turning point is to seek those ways of peace that exist even if hidden by the darkness of war’.