The Christmas bombings of churches and other targets in Nigeria clearly demonstrate the need to strengthen religious teaching that violence cannot be committed in God's name, said the head of the Vatican's office for interreligious dialogue.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said the attacks "convince me even more of the importance of dialogue between religions and of the need to intensify it always."
Boko Haram, a Nigerian group that purports to be inspired by Islam, claimed responsibility for the Christmas bombings that killed more than 40 people, including Muslim passersby, at two churches. The country's mainstream Muslim leaders condemned the attacks.
In an interview Dec. 30 with L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Cardinal Tauran said the Christmas bombings "underline the urgency of interventions by all religious leaders to infuse the hearts and minds of their faithful with a true mentality of peace."
A true religious leader teaches "the idea of a nonviolent God who loves all men and women without regard to race, culture, convictions or social condition, a God in whose name one cannot commit violence or arouse hatred," he said.
Cardinal Tauran said interreligious dialogue "does not have the aim of uniting the faithful of different religions into one temple or church," but rather to promote knowledge of one another's teaching, mutual respect and cooperation for the good of humanity.
True religious leaders condemn violence, he said, but some seem to have difficulty in convincing their communities.
"One must focus especially on the young and on their formation," he said. "The pope has insisted strongly on the formation of young people for peace, solidarity, justice and universal brotherhood" and focused on young people in his message for the Jan. 1 celebration of World Peace Day.
The cardinal said other religious leaders should do likewise.
"To educate the young for peace and justice is an obligation for all believers if they want to uproot violence from the world, at least that kind of violence that falsely cloaks itself with religious motivations," Cardinal Tauran said.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said the attacks "convince me even more of the importance of dialogue between religions and of the need to intensify it always."
Boko Haram, a Nigerian group that purports to be inspired by Islam, claimed responsibility for the Christmas bombings that killed more than 40 people, including Muslim passersby, at two churches. The country's mainstream Muslim leaders condemned the attacks.
In an interview Dec. 30 with L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Cardinal Tauran said the Christmas bombings "underline the urgency of interventions by all religious leaders to infuse the hearts and minds of their faithful with a true mentality of peace."
A true religious leader teaches "the idea of a nonviolent God who loves all men and women without regard to race, culture, convictions or social condition, a God in whose name one cannot commit violence or arouse hatred," he said.
Cardinal Tauran said interreligious dialogue "does not have the aim of uniting the faithful of different religions into one temple or church," but rather to promote knowledge of one another's teaching, mutual respect and cooperation for the good of humanity.
True religious leaders condemn violence, he said, but some seem to have difficulty in convincing their communities.
"One must focus especially on the young and on their formation," he said. "The pope has insisted strongly on the formation of young people for peace, solidarity, justice and universal brotherhood" and focused on young people in his message for the Jan. 1 celebration of World Peace Day.
The cardinal said other religious leaders should do likewise.
"To educate the young for peace and justice is an obligation for all believers if they want to uproot violence from the world, at least that kind of violence that falsely cloaks itself with religious motivations," Cardinal Tauran said.