Vatican City, 7
September 2013 (VIS)
– More than a hundred thousand people gathered in St- Peter's Square this
evening in response to Pope Francis' appeal during last Sunday's Angelus in
which he convoked for today, 7 September, a day of fasting and prayer for
peace, in the light of the dramatic circumstances which have engulfed Syria.
Since then, this initiative has been welcomed and applauded not only by
Catholics and other Christian confessions, but also by those belonging to other
religions, from Buddhists to Jews and Muslims, and even those who do not belong
to any religion. This week has seen extensive mobilisation on the part of
parishes and associations, Caritas and the Community of St. Egidio, prayer
groups and religious orders such as the Descalced Carmelites of the Holy Land,
mayors and presidents of autonomous regions, organisations for peace,
co-operation and development, unions, and so on. Many prominent figures have
joined in with the initiative, such as the architect Renzo Piano, the president
of the European Parliament Martin Schulz and the Grand Mufti of Syria,
spiritual leader of the Sunnis, who invoked peace this afternoon in the Ummayad
Mosque, Damascus, with the nation's religious leaders. A prayer for peace was
raised this afternoon in Catholic churches around the world, from Australia to
Egypt.
The Square was crowded with people since the morning; among
them there were many who wished to confess, from 5.45 onwards, to one of the
fifty priests in the Constantine Wing and below the colonnade; Francis wanted
confessors to be present on this day as “true peace is born of the human heart
reconciled with God and with one's brothers”. At 18.30, the words uttered by
the Pope last Sunday were repeated as an introduction to the Vigil which began
at 7 p.m. with a greeting from the Pope and the singing of the “Veni Creator”,
followed by the enthroning of the image of the Virgin as “Salus Populi Romani”,
carried by four Swiss Guards.
The Pope began by praying the Rosary; each mystery was
accompanied by the reading of a poem by St. Therese of Lisieux about the child
Jesus, and at the end he invoked Maria: “Queen of Peace, pray for us”. He then
pronounced the following homily:
“'And God saw that it was good'. The biblical account of the
beginning of the history of the world and of humanity speaks to us of a God who
looks at creation, in a sense contemplating it, and declares: 'it is good'.
This, dear brothers and sisters, allows us to enter into God’s heart and,
precisely from within him, to receive his message. We can ask ourselves: what
does this message mean? What does it say to me, to you, to all of us?
“It says to us simply that this, our world, in the heart and
mind of God, is the 'house of harmony and peace', and that it is the space in
which everyone is able to find their proper place and feel 'at home', because
it is 'good'. All of creation forms a harmonious and good unity, but above all
humanity, made in the image and likeness of God, is one family, in which
relationships are marked by a true fraternity not only in words: the other
person is a brother or sister to love, and our relationship with God, who is
love, fidelity and goodness, mirrors every human relationship and brings
harmony to the whole of creation. God’s world is a world where everyone feels
responsible for the other, for the good of the other. This evening, in
reflection, fasting and prayer, each of us deep down should ask ourselves: Is
this really the world that I desire? Is this really the world that we all carry
in our hearts? Is the world that we want really a world of harmony and peace,
in ourselves, in our relations with others, in families, in cities, in and
between nations? And does not true freedom mean choosing ways in this world
that lead to the good of all and are guided by love?
“But then we wonder: Is this the world in which we are
living? Creation retains its beauty which fills us with awe and it remains a
good work. But there is also 'violence, division, disagreement, war'. This
occurs when man, the summit of creation, stops contemplating beauty and
goodness, and withdraws into his own selfishness.
“When man thinks only of himself, of his own interests and
places himself in the centre, when he permits himself to be captivated by the
idols of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then all
relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door opens to
violence, indifference, and conflict. This is precisely what the passage in the
Book of Genesis seeks to teach us in the story of the Fall: man enters into
conflict with himself, he realizes that he is naked and he hides himself
because he is afraid, he is afraid of God’s glance; he accuses the woman, she
who is flesh of his flesh; he breaks harmony with creation, he begins to raise
his hand against his brother to kill him. Can we say that from harmony he
passes to 'disharmony'? Can we say this: that from harmony he passes to
'disharmony'? No, there is no such thing as 'disharmony'; there is either harmony or we fall into chaos, where there is violence,
argument, conflict, fear.
“It is exactly in this chaos that God asks man’s conscience:
“Where is Abel your brother?” and Cain responds: 'I do not know; am I my
brother’s keeper?'. We too are asked this question, it would be good for us to
ask ourselves as well: Am I really my brother’s keeper? Yes, you are your
brother’s keeper! To be human means to care for one another! But when harmony
is broken, a metamorphosis occurs: the brother who is to be cared for and loved
becomes an adversary to fight, to kill. What violence occurs at that moment,
how many conflicts, how many wars have marked our history! We need only look at
the suffering of so many brothers and sisters. This is not a question of
coincidence, but the truth: we bring about the rebirth of Cain in every act of
violence and in every war. All of us! And even today we continue this history
of conflict between brothers, even today we raise our hands against our
brother. Even today, we let ourselves be guided by idols, by selfishness, by
our own interests, and this attitude persists. We have perfected our weapons,
our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify
ourselves. As if it were normal, we continue to sow destruction, pain, death!
Violence and war lead only to death, they speak of death! Violence and war are
the language of death!
“After the chaos of the Flood, when it stopped raining, a
rainbow appeared and the dove returned with an olive branch. I think also of
the olive tree which representatives of various religions planted in Plaza de
Mayo, in Buenos Aires, in 2000, asking that there be no more chaos, asking that
there be no more war, asking for peace.
“And at this point I ask myself: Is it possible to walk the
path of pace? Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn
once again to walk and live in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of God,
under the maternal gaze of the Salus Populi Romani, Queen of Peace, I say: Yes,
it is possible for everyone! From every corner of the world tonight, I would
like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is possible for everyone! Or even better, I
would like for each one of us, from the least to the greatest, including those
called to govern nations, to respond: Yes, we want it! My Christian faith urges
me to look to the Cross. How I wish that all men and women of good will would
look to the Cross if only for a moment! There, we can see God’s reply: violence
is not answered with violence, death is not answered with the language of
death. In the silence of the Cross, the uproar of weapons ceases and the
language of reconciliation, forgiveness, dialogue, and peace is spoken. This
evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of
other religions, and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully:
violence and war are never the way to peace! Let everyone be moved to look into
the depths of his or her conscience and listen to that word which says: Leave
behind the self-interest that hardens your heart, overcome the indifference
that makes your heart insensitive towards others, conquer your deadly
reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation. Look upon your
brother’s sorrow – I think of the children, look upon these - look upon your
brother's sorrow, and do not add to it, stay your hand, rebuild the harmony
that has been shattered; and all this not by conflict but by encounter! May the
noise of weapons cease! War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a
defeat for humanity. Let the words of Pope Paul VI resound again: 'No more one
against the other, no more, never! ... war never again, never again war!'.
'Peace expresses itself only in peace, a peace which is not separate from the
demands of justice but which is fostered by personal sacrifice, clemency, mercy
and love'. Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of
peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us pray for
reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace, and let us
all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace! Amen”.
Following the Pope's words, a moment of silence was observed
during the preparation of the altar for the exposition of the Holy Sacrament.
The adoration was accompanied by a biblical reading on the theme of peace,
followed by the Pope's prayer on this subject and a responsorial invocation as
a plea for peace. At the end of each of those moments, five pairs of people,
representing Syria, Egypt, the Holy Land, the United States and Russia, placed
incense in the censer to the right of the altar. This offering was accompanied
by a series of invocations on the common theme of peace, including: “Lord of
life, bring to us your peace, to where the fate of nations is decided” and
“Stop, with your creative power, all violence against human life”.
The adoration was followed by the reading - “in the longest
form planned for the celebration of a vigil” - of the Gospel of St. John. Then,
from around 10.15 to 10.40 p.m., there was a long period of silence for
personal prayer.
