Peace, forgiveness, non-violence, instrumentalization of religion – all different, but linked among themselves, were topics addressed by Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer at the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations at Geneva, at a meeting focused on the topic of dialogue on faith, the making of peace and development, organized by the United Nations and the Organization of Muslim Cooperation, on Feb. 9, in the Swiss city.
As Vatican Radio reported, the prelate stressed in the first place that at the base of the inter-religious relation fraternity must be exercised rather than tolerance. “Our common terrain is not, in fact, simple tolerance, because it has a negative meaning.”
According to Archbishop Jurkovic, “relations between religious faiths should be based on the more dynamic concept of fraternity” in as much as “we will be responsible not only for the actions we undertake but also for those that we don’t undertake.”
Therefore, there is need of a “mutual enrichment” that, to obtain peace, consists in “a continuous and constructive improvement of our situation as human family.”
According to L’Osservatore Romano, at the origin of the conflicts and migrations “is the limited vision of the human person, which opens the way to the diffusion of injustice and inequality, thus determining situations of conflict.”
In this sense, religions are essential. Archbishop Jurkovic quoted what Pope Francis said during the inter-religious meeting last Oct. 2, at the “Heydar Aliyev” mosque at Baku in Azerbaijan: religions are called to “build the culture of encounter and of peace, made of patience, understanding, humble and concrete steps.” “The fraternity and sharing that we want to have grow will not be appreciated by one who wants to point out divisions, rekindle tensions, reap gains from oppositions and disputes.”
What the Holy See proposes then is “the style of non-violence.” The religious and ethnic communities must never become an instrument of regional and international geo-political logics,” stressed Archbishop Jurkovic. Pope Francis himself recalled, during a meeting of Bishops of Nigeria in 2015, that when innocents are killed in the name of God, religions must not be called into question but their manipulation for secondary ends.
Recalling the Holy Father’s meeting with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill a year ago in Cuba, the meeting with Lutherans at Lund last October, the promotion of dialogue in Venezuela and Colombia, Archbishop Jurkovic highlighted Francis’ commitment to dialogue and the promotion of peace and forgiveness. Peace, justice, forgiveness are mutually complementary: there can be no peace without justice, but also no true justice without forgiveness, concluded Archbishop Jurkovic.
