10/7/13
L'Osservatore Romano
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L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO
Dialogue, Conversion and Poverty at the Service of Peace
Three Popes in Assisi
The day of pray er held in Assisi on 2 7 October 1 9 86 was undoubtedly one of the m ost m em orable ev ents of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. On that occasion, the Council was creativ ely interpreted thanks to an unprecedented closeness between the different religions. In this way , the Polish Pope m ade an unthinkable leap forward in the dialogue between faiths. The new awareness is one and one alone: God has only one passion and one word: peace. And he should not be inv oked to legitim ize war and v iolence. Henceforth, the day of pray er in Assisi was not only repeated as in 1 9 9 3 with the pray er for peace in the Balkans and in 2 002 with the m eeting of religious leaders following the attack on the Twin Towers but it also grew considerably . The work of one day becam e a blessing for all, for the lowly power of pray er is m ighty before God and inv olv es all peoples. Benedict XVI's relationship with Assisi and with its m ost illustrious son St Francis is personal, intim ate, alm ost v isceral. If, for John Paul II, Assisi was first and forem ost a m eeting place for different religions and thus for dialogue, what fascinates Benedict is Francis conv ersion and the radical liv ing out of the Gospel em braced by this unique figure in the Churchs history . A reading of the discourses and addresses, in which he m akes reference to the saint of Assisi ov er the first six y ears of his pontificate, m akes this abundantly clear. Pope Francis bond with the saint of Assisi was irrev ocably established by the nam e which the first South Am erican Pope chose as he began his Petrine Ministry . Howev er, Pope Francis does not look at the saint through the lens of a fashionable rom anticism ; rather, he sees in him the great reform er of the Church through his radical choice for pov erty , and ev en m ore concretely , his radical choice for the poor. One of the m ost quoted expressions of the new Pope is outskirts, broadly understood. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand his harm ony with the saint who chose m inority [the Franciscans Minor] as the em blem of his order, reaching out to ev ery one just as they were in order to preach the Gospel which sav es, first by exam ple and then by words. Francis conv ergence with Benedict XVI on the subject of the Saint of Assisi is easily identifiable in the Ency clical Lumen Fidei. In it, Pope Francis has taken up the fine work (cf. n. 7 ) of his predecessor and added a few contributions of his own. [T]he light of faith [does not] m ake us forget the sufferings of this world. How m any m en and wom en of faith hav e found m ediators of light in those who suffer! So it was with Saint Francis of Assisi and the leper (n. 57 ). The them e of conv ersion which is v ery close to the heart of Benedict XVI, is bound to the encounter with the least, who are dear to Pope Francis. Like John Paul II, his current successor has a clear v ision of world peace to which the v arious religions,
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10/7/13
L'Osservatore Romano
through m utual respect and the liv ing out of their own identity , can and m ust contribute; Faith and v iolence are incom patible, Francis said during the Angelus on 1 8 August. He dem onstrated this by calling for a day of fasting and pray er for peace in Sy ria. Care for the poor and consequently , attention to global justice, is a recurring them e that distinguishes him . In his letter dated 4 Septem ber to Putin who was presiding ov er the G2 0 sum m it, Pope Francis spoke of peace within the context of a new econom y which allows a dignified way of life for all hum an beings. In Pope Francis v isit to Assisi, the call Francis, go and rebuild m y house, which warm ed the hearts of m illions of y oung people along Copacabana Beach on 2 7 July , cannot but resound once m ore, together with the call to the radical choice for pov erty which m ade Francis a brother to all m en. He took the last place, and for this v ery reason, he is close to us all. UGO SARTORIO October 1 , 2 01 3
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