Vatican – Serving a wounded world: interreligious solidarity

04 September 2020

(ANS - Vatican City) - The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue and the World Council of Churches have launched a joint appeal to all Christians in these times of pandemic. It is an appeal aimed at common reflection and addressed with special attention to young people.

As Christians, it is our responsibility to open a dialogue with the faithful of other religious traditions, the World Council of Churches states, this appeal stemming from the conviction that walking this path together is a factor of great importance.

The text's starting point is the recognition of the current context of the pandemic as an opportunity to discover new forms of solidarity and to rethink the post-Covid-19 world.

The contents of this joint appeal have been collected in a short document, of 24 pages, divided into five parts: analysis of the current crisis (the times of the pandemic are reread with evangelical eyes); solidarity sustained by hope; the basis for interreligious solidarity; principles; recommendations. The common principles highlighted are:

- Humility and vulnerability;

- Respect for each individual;

- Community, compassion and the common good;

- Dialogue and mutual learning;

- Repentance and renewal;

- Gratitude and generosity;

- Love: we are called to live God's Love.

The document highlights that all Christians "are invited to serve others" on the basis of several specific recommendations:

- Find ways of bearing witness to suffering;

- Promote a culture of inclusiveness which celebrates difference as God's gift;

- Nurture solidarity, through spirituality;

- Expand the formation of the clergy, religious communities, lay people and pastoral workers;

- Engage and support young people, whose idealism and energy can be an antidote to cynicism, in an effort to heal the wounded world we are part of;

- Create spaces for dialogue;

- Rethink projects that promote inter-religious solidarity.

The full text of the document is available on AustraLasia.

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