The Vatican Press Office today
released the preliminary program of the day that Benedict XVI and
representatives of world religions will spend together in prayer in
Assisi.
The day was pre-announced by the pope on January 1, speaking of
the value of religious freedom to bring peace in the world.
Due
to take place on 27 October this year, the pope also wants to remember
the 25 years since the first meeting in Assisi, called by Pope John Paul
II.
The statement stresses also that non-religious people, committed to
justice and peace in the world, will take part.
Here is the full text of the communiqué of the Vatican Press Office:
“Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”
Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world
On 1 January 2011, after the Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI
announced that he wished to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the
historic meeting that took place in Assisi on 27 October 1986, at the
wish of the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II.
On the day of the
anniversary, 27 October this year, the Holy Father intends to hold a Day
of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world,
making a pilgrimage to the home of Saint Francis and inviting fellow
Christians from different denominations, representatives of the world’s
religious traditions and, in some sense, all men and women of good will,
to join him once again on this journey.
The Day will take as its theme: “Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”. Every
human being is ultimately a pilgrim in search of truth and goodness.
Believers too are constantly journeying towards God: hence the
possibility, indeed the necessity, of speaking and entering into
dialogue with everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, without
sacrificing one’s own identity or indulging in forms of syncretism.
To
the extent that the pilgrimage of truth is authentically lived, it opens
the path to dialogue with the other, it excludes no one and it commits
everyone to be a builder of fraternity and peace. These are the elements that the Holy Father wishes to place at the centre of reflection.
For this reason, as well as representatives of Christian
communities and of the principal religious traditions, some figures from
the world of culture and science will be invited to share the journey –
people who, while not professing to be religious, regard themselves as
seekers of the truth and are conscious of a shared responsibility for
the cause of justice and peace in this world of ours.
The image
of pilgrimage therefore sums up the meaning of the event.
There will be
an opportunity to look back over the path already travelled from that
first meeting in Assisi to the following one in January 2002, and also
to look ahead to the future, with a view to continuing, in company with
all men and women of good will, to walk along the path of dialogue and
fraternity, in the context of a world in rapid transformation.
Saint
Francis, poor and humble, will once more welcome everyone to his home
town, which has become a symbol of brotherhood and peace.
The delegations will set off from Rome by train on the morning of 27 October, together with the Holy Father.
Upon
arrival in Assisi, they will make their way to the Basilica of S. Maria
degli Angeli, where the previous meetings will be recalled and the
theme of the Day will be explored in greater depth. Leaders of some of the delegations present will make speeches and the Holy Father will likewise deliver an address.
There will follow a simple lunch, shared by the delegates: a
meal under the banner of sobriety, intended to express fraternal
conviviality, and at the same time solidarity in the suffering of so
many men and women who do not know peace.
There will follow a
period of silence for individual reflection and prayer.
In the
afternoon, all who are present in Assisi will make their way towards the
Basilica of Saint Francis.
It will be a pilgrimage in which, for the
final stretch, the members of the delegations will also take part; it is
intended to symbolize the journey of every human being who assiduously
seeks the truth and actively builds justice and peace.
It will take
place in silence, leaving room for personal meditation and prayer.
In
the shadow of Saint Francis’ Basilica, where the previous meetings were
also concluded, the final stage of the Day will include a solemn
renewal of the joint commitment to peace.
In preparation for this Day, Pope Benedict XVI will preside over a
Prayer Vigil at Saint Peter’s the previous evening, together with the
faithful of the Diocese of Rome.
Particular Churches and
communities throughout the world are invited to organize similar times
of prayer.
In the coming weeks the Cardinal Presidents of the Pontifical
Councils for the Promotion of Christian Unity and of Interreligious
Dialogue and the Pontifical Council for Culture will write in the Holy
Father’s name to all those invited.
The Pope asks the Catholic faithful
to join him in praying for the celebration of this important event and
he is grateful to all those who will be able to be present in Saint
Francis’ home town to share this spiritual pilgrimage.