On Saturday July 8 during a visit to the Basilica of Santa
Maria degli Angeli in Porziuncola, Christine discovered this large engraving
located on the outer wall of the church. It was exciting to recognize that the
plaque commemorated the historic World Day of Pray for Peace that took place on
October 27, 1986 in Assisi. Convened at the initiative of Pope Saint John Paul
II, the event brought together delegations who represented at least thirteen
different world religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism,
Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism. For Pope John Paull II, the purpose
of the event was to demonstrate the importance of prayer as another effective
way to work for peace beyond political and diplomatic negotiations. This
initiative built on Pope Paul VI’s decision on December 8, 1967 to declare
January 1 World Day of Peace. Here, it is helpful to remember that in 1967 Paul
VI also established a Vatican Secretariat to deal with interreligious
relations. Twenty-five years after the first meeting in Assisi, Pope Benedict
XVI convened on October 27, 2011 a Day of Reflection, Dialogue and Prayer for
Peace and Justice in the World once again at the Basilica of Santa Maria
degli Angeli. In the spirit of this tradition, Pope Francis chose the tomb
of Saint Francis at Assisi as the location to sign his encyclical Fratelli
Tutti on October 3, 2020.
The symbolic events that have been taking place at Assisi
since 1986 highlight the change in the Church’s approach to other religions introduced
at Vatican II. During our visit to the Dicastery for Inter-religious Dialogue
on July 6, 2023, Monsignor Indunil Kankanamalage
reminded us that prior to the Council the mission of the Church was understood
to be conversion and founding churches. This changed at the Council, however,
as the Church’s doctrine on the Holy Spirit evolved. Monsignor Kankanamalage
explained that the goal today is the promotion of unity among humanity. This is
accomplished by four forms of dialogue 1) the dialogue of life, 2) the dialogue
of action, 3) the dialogue of spirituality, and 4) the dialogue of theologians.
This weekend I
also learned that Porziuncola, which means “small portion of land” was one of
several churches that Saint Francis re-built, in addition to the church at San
Damiano where he first received his vision. In our time, in consonance with the
way of Saint Francis, the mission of building and re-building the Church continues under the leadership of Pope Francis
in humility, simplicity, magnanimity, prayerfulness and respect for the
diversity of God’s Holy Spirit.
Carla Thomas
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