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Near noon on Saturday, 9 May 2009, the Holy
Father met with Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammed Bin Talal
, Muslim Leaders, and other dignitaries, at Amman's largest house
of worship, the Mosque of al-Hussein bin Talal. The Pope responded to
the charge, common today, that religion is a cause of division rather
than of unity and peace.
Your Royal Highness,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a source of great joy for me to meet with you this morning in this
magnificent setting. I wish to thank Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammed Bin Talal
for his kind words of welcome. Your Royal Highness’s numerous
initiatives to promote inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and
exchanges are appreciated by the people of the Hashemite Kingdom and
they are widely respected by the international community. I know that
these efforts receive the active support of other members of the Royal
Family as well as the nation’s government, and find ample resonance in
the many initiatives of collaboration among Jordanians. For all this, I
wish to express my own heartfelt admiration.
Places of worship, like this splendid Al-Hussein Bin Talal mosque named
after the revered late King, stand out like jewels across the earth’s
surface. From the ancient to the modern, the magnificent to the humble,
they all point to the divine, to the Transcendent One, to the Almighty.
And through the centuries these sanctuaries have drawn men and women
into their sacred space to pause, to pray, to acknowledge the presence
of the Almighty, and to recognize that we are all his creatures.
For this reason we cannot fail to be concerned that today, with
increasing insistency, some maintain that religion fails in its claim to
be, by nature, a builder of unity and harmony, an expression of
communion between persons and with God. Indeed some assert that religion
is necessarily a cause of division in our world; and so they argue that
the less attention given to religion in the public sphere the better.
Certainly, the contradiction of tensions and divisions between the
followers of different religious traditions, sadly, cannot be denied.
However, is it not also the case that often it is the ideological
manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real
catalyst for tension and division, and at times even violence in
society? In the face of this situation, where the opponents of religion
seek not simply to silence its voice but to replace it with their own,
the need for believers to be true to their principles and beliefs is
felt all the more keenly. Muslims and Christians, precisely because of
the burden of our common history so often marked by misunderstanding,
must today strive to be known and recognized as worshippers of God
faithful to prayer, eager to uphold and live by the Almighty’s decrees,
merciful and compassionate, consistent in bearing witness to all that is
true and good, and ever mindful of the common origin and dignity of all
human persons, who remain at the apex of God’s creative design for the
world and for history.
The resolve of Jordanian educators and religious and civic leaders to
ensure that the public face of religion reflects its true nature is
praiseworthy. The example of individuals and communities, together with
the provision of courses and programmes, manifest the constructive
contribution of religion to the educational, cultural, social and other
charitable sectors of your civic society. Some of this spirit I have
been able to sample at first hand. Yesterday, I experienced the renowned
educational and rehabilitation work of the Our Lady of Peace Centre
where Christians and Muslims are transforming the lives of entire
families, by assisting them to ensure that their disabled children take
up their rightful place in society. Earlier this morning, I blessed the
foundation stone of Madaba University where young Muslim and Christian
adults will side by side receive the benefits of a tertiary education,
enabling them to contribute justly to the social and economic
development of their nation. Of great merit too are the numerous
initiatives of inter-religious dialogue supported by the Royal Family
and the diplomatic community and sometimes undertaken in conjunction
with the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. These include
the ongoing work of the Royal Institutes for Inter-faith studies and for
Islamic Thought, the Amman Message of 2004, the Amman Interfaith Message
of 2005, and the more recent Common Word letter which echoed a theme
consonant with my first encyclical: the unbreakable bond between love of
God and love of neighbour, and the fundamental contradiction of
resorting to violence or exclusion in the name of God (cf. Deus Caritas
Est, 16).
Such initiatives clearly lead to greater reciprocal knowledge, and they
foster a growing respect both for what we hold in common and for what we
understand differently. Thus, they should prompt Christians and Muslims
to probe even more deeply the essential relationship between God and his
world so that together we may strive to ensure that society resonates in
harmony with the divine order. In this regard, the co-operation found
here in Jordan sets an encouraging and persuasive example for the
region, and indeed the world, of the positive, creative contribution
which religion can and must make to civic society.
Distinguished friends, today I wish to refer to a task which I have
addressed on a number of occasions and which I firmly believe Christians
and Muslims can embrace, particularly through our respective
contributions to learning and scholarship, and public service. That task
is the challenge to cultivate for the good, in the context of faith and
truth, the vast potential of human reason. Christians in fact describe
God, among other ways, as creative Reason, which orders and guides the
world. And God endows us with the capacity to participate in his reason
and thus to act in accordance with what is good. Muslims worship God,
the Creator of Heaven and Earth, who has spoken to humanity. And as
believers in the one God we know that human reason is itself God’s gift
and that it soars to its highest plane when suffused with the light of
God’s truth. In fact, when human reason humbly allows itself to be
purified by faith, it is far from weakened; rather, it is strengthened
to resist presumption and to reach beyond its own limitations. In this
way, human reason is emboldened to pursue its noble purpose of serving
mankind, giving expression to our deepest common aspirations and
extending, rather than manipulating or confining, public debate. Thus,
genuine adherence to religion – far from narrowing our minds – widens
the horizon of human understanding. It protects civil society from the
excesses of the unbridled ego which tend to absolutize the finite and
eclipse the infinite; it ensures that freedom is exercised hand in hand
with truth, and it adorns culture with insights concerning all that is
true, good and beautiful.
This understanding of reason, which continually draws the human mind
beyond itself in the quest for the Absolute, poses a challenge; it
contains a sense of both hope and caution. Together, Christians and
Muslims are impelled to seek all that is just and right. We are bound to
step beyond our particular interests and to encourage others, civil
servants and leaders in particular, to do likewise in order to embrace
the profound satisfaction of serving the common good, even at personal
cost. And we are reminded that because it is our common human dignity
which gives rise to universal human rights, they hold equally for every
man and woman, irrespective of his or her religious, social or ethnic
group. In this regard, we must note that the right of religious freedom
extends beyond the question of worship and includes the right –
especially of minorities – to fair access to the employment market and
other spheres of civic life.
Before I leave you this morning I would like to acknowledge in a special
way the presence among us of His Beatitude Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarch
of Baghdad, whom I greet most warmly. His presence brings to mind the
people of neighbouring Iraq many of whom have found welcome refuge here
in Jordan. The international community’s efforts to promote peace and
reconciliation, together with those of the local leaders, must continue
in order to bear fruit in the lives of Iraqis. I wish to express my
appreciation for all those who are assisting in the endeavors to deepen
trust and to rebuild the institutions and infrastructure essential to
the well-being of that society. And once again, I urge diplomats and the
international community they represent together with local political and
religious leaders to do everything possible to ensure the ancient
Christian community of that noble land its fundamental right to peaceful
coexistence with their fellow citizens.
Distinguished friends, I trust that the sentiments I have expressed
today will leave us with renewed hope for the future. Our love and duty
before the Almighty is expressed not only in our worship but also in our
love and concern for children and young people – your families – and for
all Jordanians. It is for them that you labor and it is they who
motivate you to place the good of every human person at the heart of
institutions, laws and the workings of society. May reason, ennobled and
humbled by the grandeur of God’s truth, continue to shape the life and
institutions of this nation, in order that families may flourish and
that all may live in peace, contributing to and drawing upon the culture
that unifies this great Kingdom!
Distributed by:
The Holy See Press Office
9 May 2009
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