International Meeting of Prayer for Peace
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Cyprus hosted the International Meeting for Peace "The Civilisation of Peace: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue" November 16-18, 2008. The meeting was attended by religious leaders, heads of state and representatives of different cultures as well as intellectuals, secular believers, journalists from the international media. The meeting was organised by the Community of Sant'Egidio in cooperation with the Church of Cyprus.
On the final day of the meeting, the delegates gave an appeal for peace[1]. Religious leaders handled the Appeal in the hands of children of various nationalities. The children, on behalf of all generations, gave it to ambassadors and authorities representing all nations of the world.
APPEAL (direct quote)
"Men and women of different religions and cultures, we gathered in Cyprus, this beautiful and wounded island, to pray, to dialogue, to foster the growth of a civilization of peace, which the world needs to avoid becoming inhuman. We experienced days of peace, confident that peace is possible.
We are at a difficult point in history. Many certainties are shaken by the economic crisis that has seized our world. Many people are pessimistic about the future. Richer countries focus on protecting their own citizens. A very high price of the crisis will be paid for by the poorest of the world. We are deeply concerned about the millions of old and new poor people, victims of a market thought of as almighty.
Too many people suffer in this world of ours, from war, poverty and violence. No one should be happy in a world full of suffering. No one should close his heart to compassion. We share the sorrow of peoples which are held hostages by war, of those who were forced to flee from their homes by ethnic hatred or nationalism, of those who were kidnapped or are missing. Many people, too many, are suffering.
This is not the time to surrender to pessimism, it is time to heed the sorrow of people, and to work for the foundation of a new world order of peace. The quest for justice, the use of dialogue, and respect for the weak are the tools we need to build this new world order. We need a surplus of spirit and a greater sense of humanity! A world without a soul will soon become inhuman.
Regardless of their differences, our religious traditions strongly testify that a world with no spirit will never be human: they cry out that spirit and humanity should never be trampled on by war; they beg for peace. They want peace, they beg for it, they implore peace from God through prayer. Religions are aware that talking of war in God’s name is meaningless and blasphemous. They are convinced a better humanity will never come from violence and terrorism. They do not share the pessimistic belief in the inevitable clash of religions and civilizations. Religions hope and pray that a true community of peace will be established among peoples and within humanity.
No human being, no people, no community is an island. Everyone needs somebody else; everyone needs the friendship, forgiveness, and help of someone else. We share a common global destiny: either we live together in peace or we perish. War is never inevitable and it piles up ruins even in the hearts of winners.
No hatred, no conflict, no wall can resist the power of prayer, forgiveness, and patient love leading to dialogue. Dialogue does not generate weakness, rather it grants new strength. It is the real alternative to violence. Nothing is lost with dialogue. Anything can become possible. Here in Cyprus, therefore, we pray that every injustice, war and evil may soon be swept away, and brotherhood among peoples be restored, starting from this island and spreading to the Middle East, to Africa, Latin America, and the whole world.
May God grant the world the wonderful gift of peace, through the prayer of all believers!
This is not the utopia of heaven on earth, it is our duty to build a more human world. Spirit and brotherhood will make this world possible. No war is ever holy. Peace alone is holy!
May God grant the world the wonderful gift of peace, through the prayer of all believers!
Cyprus, 18 November 2008"
Participants
| Participant | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Abbas El-Halabi | Comunità Drusa, Libano |
| Abdoul Aziz Kebe | Università di Dakar, Senegal |
| Abdul Hadi Kadhim Al-Hussaini | Segretario generale della Honored Sada Association, Iraq |
| Abuna Paulos | Patriarch of the orthodox Church of Ethiopia |
| Adriano Roccucci | |
| Agostino Giovagnoli | Community of Sant’Egidio |
| Aisha Yousef Al-Menn'ai | Dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies, Qatar |
| Alain Giorgio Maria Economides | Capo di Gabinetto del Ministro degli Esteri, Italia |
| Alberto Bobbio | Gionalista vaticanista, Italia |
| Alexander Ogorodnikov | Witness of the Gulag Deportations, Russian Federation |
| Ali Khalid Sarmad | Comunità Sunnita, Iraq |
| Ambrogio Spreafico | |
| Andon Merdani | Orthodox Bishop of the Church of Albania |
| Andrea Masullo | University of Camerino, Italia |
| Andrea Riccardi | Founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio |
| Andreas Theophanous | Università di Nicosia, Cipro |
| Antonio Ferrari | Columnist, Italy |
| Antonios Naguib | Patriarca di Alessandria, Chiesa Copto-Cattolica |
| Aram I | Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenians |
| Arie Zeev Raskin | Rabbi of Larnaca, Cyprus |
| Armand Puig | Dean of the Theological Faculty of Catalonia, Spain |
| Asmaa Benkada | Al-Jazeera TV Program Producer, Qatar |
| Augusto Forti | Vice Presidente di Ideasolidarité, Francia |
| Bamir Topi | President of the Republic of Albania |
| Bernard Sabella | Member of Palestinian Legislative Council |
| Celestin Twizere | Community of Sant’Egidio, Rwanda |
| Christina Lee | Movimento dei Focolari |
| Christine Boutin | Minister of Housing and City Affaires, France |
| Christodoulos Lazaris | Ministero degli Affari Esteri di Grecia |
| Chrysostomos II | Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus |
| Ciprian | Vescovo ortodosso, Patriarcato di Romania |
| Claudio Hummes | Cardinale, Prefetto della Congregazione per il Clero |
| Cornelio Sommaruga | Presidente emerito del Comitato della Croce Rossa Internazionale, Svizzera |
| Crescenzio Sepe | Cardinal, Archbishop of Naples, Italy |
| Daniel Deckers | Giornalista, Germania |
| Daniela Pompei | Community of Sant’Egidio |
| David Brodman | Chief Rabbi of Savyon, Israel |
| David Hamid | |
| David Rosen | Rabbi, Chairman of IJCIC, Israel |
| Dimitris Christofias | President of the Republic of Cyprus |
| Edgar Busuttil | Jesuit, Director of the Jesuit Centre Faith and Justice, Malta |
| Edward Fenech-Adami | Presidente della Repubblica di Malta |
| Eleni Theocharous | Member of the House of Representatives of Cyprus |
| Elias Chacour | Archbishop of the Melchite Greek Catholics, Israel |
| Emma Fattorini | University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy |
| Eugenio Guasta | Responsabile per la Cultura dell'Arcidiocesi di Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Faisal Mawlawi | Segretario generale Gruppo Islamico del Libano |
| Filip Vujanovic | President of the Republic of Montenegro |
| Francis Martin-Xavier Campbell | Ambasciatore del Regno Unito e Irlanda del Nord presso la Santa Sede |
| Françoise Rivière | Director General Adj. of UNESCO |
| Frank De Coninck | Ambasciatore del Regno del Belgio presso la Santa Sede |
| Frank Otfried July | Vescovo della Chiesa Evangelica del Württemberg, Germania |
| Gensho Hozumi | President of the Tendai Buddhist Denomination, Japan |
| Georgios | Othodox Metropolitan, Church of Cyprus |
| Gérard Testard | President of Fondacio, France |
| Gijun Sugitani | Supreme Advisor to the Tendai Buddhist Denomination, Japan |
| Gregorios | Arcivescovo ortodosso, Patriarcato Ecumenico |
| Guy Harpigny | Vescovo cattolico, Belgio |
| Guzmán Carriquiry | Sotto-Segretario del Pontificio Consiglio per i Laici, Santa Sede |
| Hassan Hanafi | Università del Cairo, Egitto |
| Heinrich Mussinghoff | Catholic Bishop, Germany |
| Ibrahim Chamseddine | Ministro di Stato per la Riforma Amministrativa, Libano |
| Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio | Witness, Colombia |
| Israel Singer | World Jewish Congress, USA |
| Jacques Huntzinger | Ambassador, France |
| Jakov Ebert | Rabbi of Würzburg, Germany |
| James Wuye | Pastore, Joint Executive National Coordinator, Nigeria |
| Jean Benjamin Sleiman | |
| Jean Claude Petit | President of the National Centre of the Catholic Press of France |
| Jean Dominique Durand | University of Lyon, France |
| Jean-Arnold de Clermont | President of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) |
| Jean-François Leguil-Bayart | Director of Research to CNSR, France |
| Jean-Pierre Ricard | Cardinal, Archbishop of Bordeaux, France |
| Jesus Delgado | General Vicar of the Diocese of San Salvador |
| Joachim Gnilka | Catholic theologian, Germany |
| Joan Enric Vives I Sicìlia | Vescovo cattolico, Spagna |
| John C. A. Barrett | Presidente del Conseglio Methodista Mondiale |
| John J. DeGioia | President of the Georgetown University, USA |
| Jürgen Johannesdotter | Evangelical Bishop, Germany |
| Kansho Kayaki | Buddismo Tendai, Giappone |
| Katherine Marshall | Senior Advisor of the World Bank, USA |
| Khadija Bengana | |
| Kinjiro Niwano | Consigliere esecutivo di Rissho Kosei-kai, Giappone |
| Kone Idriss Koudouss | President of the Islamic National Council of Cote D’Ivoire |
| Krystof | Primate Ortodosso della Chiesa delle Terre Ceche e della Slovacchia |
| Laurent Ulrich | Arcivescovo cattolico di Lille, Vice presidente Conferenza Episcopale Francese |
| Leonardo Sandri | Cardinale, Prefetto della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali |
| Louis Sako | Vescovo cattolico dei Caldei, Iraq |
| Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim | Metropolitan of the Syrian Orthodox Church |
| Marc Stenger | Catholic Bishop, France |
| Marie Vladimir Gaudrat | Abate di Lérins, Francia |
| Mario Giro | Comunità di Sant’Egidio |
| Mario Marazziti | Community of Sant’Egidio |
| Marios Garoyian | Presidente del Parlamento di Cipro |
| Martin Lind | |
| Mary Tanner | Co-Presidente del WCC |
| Masahiko Iburi | Tenrikyo, Giappone |
| Masamichi Tanaka | Oomoto Denomination, Japan |
| Matteo Zuppi | Comunità di Sant'Egidio |
| Meir Sheetrit | Ministro dell'Interno, Israele |
| Michel Kubler | |
| Mikko Heikka | Vescovo luterano, Finlandia |
| Mohammad Sammak | Political Advisor to the Grand Mufti of Lebanon |
| Mohammed Amine Smaili | University of Rabat, Morocco |
| Mohammed Esslimani | Islamic theologian, Saudi Arabia |
| Mohinder Singh | National Institute of Panjab Studies, New Delhi |
| Moriyasu Ito | Jiniya Honcho Shinto, Japan |
| Muhammad Ashafa | Imam, Joint Executive National Coordinator, Nigeria |
| Muhammad Fathi Osman | Institute for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, USA |
| Oded Wiener | Director General of the Grand Rabbinate, Israel |
| Ole Chr. M. Kvarme | Lutheran Bishop, Norway |
| Paul Lacey | Presidente dell' American Friends Service Committee, USA |
| Paul Poupard | Cardinale, Presidente emerito del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura, Santa Sede |
| Paul Yazigi | |
| Paul Yemboaro Ouédraogo | Vescovo cattolico, Burkina Faso |
| Paul Youssef Matar | Arcivescovo cattolico dei Maroniti, Libano |
| Pier Luigi Celata | Vescovo, Segretario del Pontificio Consiglio per il Dialogo Interreligioso, Santa Sede |
| Pierbattista Pizzaballa | Custodian of the Holy Land |
| Raj K. Srivastava | Study Centre for Society Development, India |
| Renato Raffaele Martino | Cardinal, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Holy See |
| Robert Palmer | Director of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage, Council of Europe |
| Salah A. Zuheika | Vice Ministro degli Waqf, Autorità Palestinese |
| Samuel Robert Azariah | Vescovo della Chiesa Unita del Pakistan |
| Sattar Al-Hilo | Presidente dei Mandei in Iraq e nel mondo, Iraq |
| Sayyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi | Presidente dell’Istituto per il Dialogo Interreligioso, Iran |
| Serafim | Orthodox Metropolitan, Romanian Patriarchate |
| Serafim | Orthodox Metropolitan, Romanian Patriarchate |
| Seraphim Kykkotis | Arcivescovo ortodosso, Patriarcato di Alessandria |
| Serge Latouche | University of Paris XI, France |
| Setriakor K. Nyomi | Segretario Generale dell’Alleanza Riformata Mondiale |
| Shear-Yashuv Cohen | Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Israel |
| Siti Musdah Mulia | University Islam Syarief Hidayatullah of Indonesia |
| Sohan Lal Gandhi | Presidente dell’ Anuvrat Global Organization, India |
| Sri Sri Ravishankar | Fondatore dell'Art of Living Foundation, India |
| Stanislaw Dziwisz | Cardinal, Archbishop of Cracow, Poland |
| Sylvie Bukhari de Pontual | Activist for the abolition of the torture, France |
| Takao Ina | Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Japan |
| Tamara Chikunova | Activist for the abolition of the death penalty, Uzbekistan |
| Tarcisio Bertone | Cardinale, Segretario di Stato, Santa Sede |
| Tarek Mitri | |
| Theodore Edgar Mc Carrick | Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, USA |
| Theodoros II | Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa |
| Theodoros Kassimis | Vice-ministro degli Affari Esteri, Grecia |
| U Uttara | Buddhist monk, Burma |
| Vincenzo Paglia | Catholic Bishop, Italy |
| Vincenzo Scotti | Sottosegretario di Stato agli Affari Esteri, Italia |
| Wahiduddin Khan | President of the Islamic Centre of New Delhi, India |
| Walter Kasper | Cardinal, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christians’ Unity, Holy See |
| William Chapman | Direttore delle Politiche della Tony Blair Faith Fondation |
| Yoshitaka Hatakeyama | Vice segretario generale del WCRP-Japan |
| Yusho Sasaki | Buddismo Soto Zen, Giappone |