VATICAN CITY, MAY 20, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The liturgy is an important school for education in peace, according to a document to be published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the council, announced today that the document will be the result of a seminar held in the Vatican on «Peace and Liturgy: An Itinerary of Search,» organized by the council in collaboration with the Athenaeum of St. Anselm, one of the premier institutions on the study of the liturgy.
The seminar’s objective was «to reflect more profoundly and promote the close relationship that exists between liturgical celebrations and the social and political commitment of peace,» explained the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in a statement sent to ZENIT.
In particular, as Benedict XVI himself proposed in a telegram sent to the participants, the seminar reflected on the pastoral care of ecclesial communities that live in situations of conflict and war, caused by poverty, abuse, oppression, and ethnic or racial hatreds.
The pastoral document, to be written by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will illustrate «the liturgical mysteries as events of peace,» said Cardinal Martino.
It will present the liturgy, he said, «as a great school of peace, capable of forming and educating in peace and as a realm of Christian and communal discernment on responsibilities linked to the promotion of peace.»
