Assisi

ZENIT reports on Pope Benedict's homily (not yet available in English on the Vatican site) given on Sunday during the Mass celebrated outside the Basilica of St. Francis:

Benedict XVI clarified that the spirit of peace among religions promoted by St. Francis and Pope John Paul II is not religious syncretism.

This was one of the main messages during the German Pope's pilgrimage on Sunday to the city of the saint. The pilgrimage marked the 800th anniversary of Francis' conversion.

"I cannot forget, in the context of today's celebration, the initiative of my predecessor of holy memory, John Paul II, who in 1986, brought together here the representatives of the Christian churches and other religions of the world, for a meeting of prayer for peace," said Benedict XVI at the end of his homily during the Mass celebrated in the lower square outside the Basilica of St. Francis. ...

The Pope added: "Assisi tells us that faithfulness to one's own religious conviction, faithfulness above all to Christ crucified and risen, is not expressed in violence and intolerance, but in sincere respect for the other, in dialogue, in a message that calls out for freedom and reason, in working for peace and for reconciliation.

"It would not be evangelical, nor Franciscan, to be unable to unite acceptance, dialogue and respect for all with the certainty of faith which each Christian, like the saint of Assisi, is called to cultivate, proclaiming Christ as the way, truth and life of mankind, the one and only savior of the world."

Of course, over twenty years after the 1986 prayer meeting at Assisi, controversy continues about that event. Fr. James Schall addressed that in a September 2006 IgnatiusInsight.com essay, "The Spirit of Assisi," and remarked upon comments made by Benedict XVI on the 20th anniversary of the Assisi inter-religious prayer meeting:

Yet, John Paul's initiative, this "spirit of Assisi," could be "misunderstood." How so? First of all, this or any such prayer meeting should not "lend itself to syncretist interpretation founded on a relativistic concept." And what is a "syncretist interpretation?" It means that what was going on was a filtering out of common beliefs or prayers acceptable to everyone while dropping what is distinctive of each particular religion. This result, which many in the parliament of religion school desire, is not what is going on here. John Paul II himself was very clear on this point. The representatives are not at Assisi to "negotiate our faith convictions." More importantly, the differences in religion cannot be settled if, as their purpose, all agree on a "common earthly project which would surpass them all." Nor could it be founded on the thesis that all religious beliefs are based on "relativism."
 
Benedict next affirms that he agrees with this position of his predecessor. Inter-religious dialogue is not based on a prior position that no religion is true. It has to be based on the position that the representatives of each religion hold what they maintain to be true. That is what there is to talk about on some common basis. If they cannot agree, they cannot agree. But they still might agree to pray together as a sign that they ought not to use religion for violence. "Like us Christians, they (other religious leaders) know that in prayer it is possible to have a special experience of God and to draw from it effective incentive for dedication to the cause of peace."
 
This position too can still cause "inappropriate conclusions." What the Pope says is very precise. "Therefore, even when we are gathered together to pray for peace, the prayer must follow the different uses proper   to the various religions." That is, the Jew is supposed to pray as a Jew, the Hindu as a Hindu, the Muslim as a Muslim, the Catholic as a Catholic. I am not supposed to pretend, either in private or in public, that I am a Muslim or a Baptist when I pray, nor are they to pretend they are Catholics. "The convergence of differences must not convey an impression of surrendering to that relativism which denies the meaning of truth itself and the possibility of attaining it."

Related IgnatiusInsight.com Links/Articles:              
      
• Are Truth, Faith, and Tolerance Compatible? | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Why Do We Need Faith? | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• Chesterton and Saint Francis | Joseph Pearce
• St. Thomas and St. Francis | G.K. Chesterton