VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 190   
   DATE 28-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Interreligious audience in St. Peter's Square on the 50th anniversary of the   
   conciliar declaration "Nostra Aetate"   
   - Pakistan and Afghanistan in Francis' prayers   
   - Chirograph for the institution of the Foundation Gravissimum Educationis   
   - Representatives of different religions on the conciliar Declaration "Nostra   
   Aetate"   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Interreligious audience in St. Peter's Square on the 50th anniversary of the   
   conciliar declaration "Nostra Aetate"   
    Vatican City, 28 October 2015 (VIS) - This week's general audience was held on   
   the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Council II Declaration "Nostra Aetate" on   
   the relations between the Catholic Church and non-Christian religions. It was   
   attended by representatives of various religions and participants in the   
   International Congress organised to commemorate the event by the Pontifical   
   Council for Interreligious Dialogue in collaboration with the Commission for   
   Religious Relationships with Jews, the Pontifical Council for Promoting   
   Christian Unity and the Pontifical Gregorian University.   
    Before beginning his catechesis in St. Peter's Square the Pope greeted the   
   sick   
   and elderly who, due to the weather conditions, were unable to attend the open   
   air audience. Francis also mentioned them in the square and asked for a minute   
   of silence and prayer for them all.   
    The audience began with greetings from Cardinals Jean-Louis Tauran, president   
   of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and Kurt Koch, president   
   of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. After the reading in   
   several languages of a paragraph of "Nostra Aetate", the Pope welcomed all   
   those   
   present and expressed his gratitude to them for commemorating together the 50th   
   anniversary of this important conciliar document.   
    "Vatican Council II was an extraordinary moment of reflection, dialogue and   
   prayer to renew the gaze of the Catholic Church upon herself and the world. A   
   reading of the signs of the times in order to bring her up to date, guided by a   
   dual fidelity: fidelity to the ecclesial tradition and fidelity to the history   
   of the men and women of our time. Indeed, God revealed Himself in creation and   
   in history, spoke through prophets and fully in His Son made man, addressing   
   the   
   heart and soul of every human being who seeks the truth and the way to practise   
   it".   
    Francis, reiterating that the message of the Declaration "Nostra Aetate"   
   remains valid today, recalled some of its key points: the growing   
   interdependence of peoples; the human search for meaning in life, suffering and   
   death, questions that always accompany our journey; the common origin and   
   common   
   destiny of humanity; the unity of the human family; religions as the search for   
   God or the Absolute, within the various ethnic groups and cultures; the   
   Church's   
   benevolent and careful view of all religions, which does not reject anything   
   good or true in them; the Church's esteem for all believers of all religions,   
   appreciating their spiritual and moral commitment; and finally, the Church's   
   openness to dialogue with all, while remaining at the same time faithful to the   
   truth in which she believes, starting from the salvation offered to all that   
   has   
   its origin in Jesus, the sole saviour, and that is worked by the Holy Spirit,   
   as   
   the source of peace and love".   
    The Pope also noted that over the last fifty years there have been many   
   initiatives and examples of institutional or personal relations with   
   non-Christian religions. The most significant among them include the meeting in   
   Assisi on 27 October 1986, promoted by St. John Paul II. He also praised the   
   great transformation that has taken place in this period in the relationship   
   between Christians and Jews. "Indifference and opposition have turned into   
   cooperation and benevolence", he remarked. "From enemies and strangers, we have   
   become friends and brothers. The Council, with the Declaration 'Nostra Aetate',   
   showed the way: 'yes' to the rediscovery of the Jewish roots of Christianity;   
   'no' to any form of anti-Semitism and condemnation of any resulting injustice,   
   discrimination and persecution. Mutual knowledge, respect and esteem constitute   
   the way that, valid for relations with Jews, is similarly relevant to relations   
   with other religions. I think in particular of Muslims who, as the Council   
   states, 'adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and   
   all-powerful, the Creator of Heaven and earth, Who has spoken to men'. They   
   refer to the paternity of Abraham, they venerate Jesus as a prophet, they   
   honour   
   His virgin Mother Mary, they await the day of judgement, and practise prayer,   
   charity and fasting".   
    "The dialogue we need cannot be other than open and respectful, and in this   
   way   
   it is shown to be fruitful. Mutual respect is the condition and the aim of   
   interreligious dialogue; respecting the rights of others to life, physical   
   integrity and fundamental freedoms: that is, freedom of conscience, thought,   
   expression and religion. The world looks to us as believers, and exhorts us to   
   collaborate among ourselves and with men and women of good will who do not   
   profess any religion, and asks us for effective answers on several issues:   
   peace, hunger, the poverty that afflicts millions of people, the environmental   
   crisis, violence, especially that committed in the name of religion,   
   corruption,   
   moral degradation, the crisis of the family, the economy and finance, and above   
   all, hope. We believers do not have solutions for these problems, but we have a   
   great resource: prayer. We must pray. Prayer is our treasury, which we draw   
   from   
   according to our respective traditions, to ask for the gifts humanity yearns   
   for".   
    He acknowledged that violence and terrorism have given rise to "an attitude of   
   suspicion and indeed condemnation with regard to religions. In reality, since   
   no   
   religion is immune to the risk of fundamentalist or extremist deviations by   
   individuals or groups, it is necessary to look instead to the positive values   
   they embody and promote, and which are a wellspring of hope. ... Dialogue based   
   on trustful respect can bring seeds of goodness that in turn become the buds of   
   friendship and collaboration in many fields, and especially in service to the   
   poor, the smallest and the elderly, and welcoming migrants and the excluded".   
   He   
   also remarked on the role of religions in defending the environment, a common   
   good.   
    The upcoming extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy will offer an opportunity for   
   collaboration in charitable works. "And in this field, where compassion is most   
   important, we can join with many people who do not consider themselves to be   
   believers or who are in search of God and truth, people who place the face of   
   others at the centre, especially their brothers and sisters in need. But the   
   mercy that is required of us embraces all creation, that God entrusted to us as   
   its custodians rather than exploiters or destroyers. We must always seek to   
   leave behind a better world than the one we found".   
    The Pope concluded by urging all those present to pray for the future of   
   interreligious dialogue, "and to pray for each other, as we are brothers!   
   Without the Lord, nothing is possible; with Him, everything is possible. May   
   our   
   prayer fully adhere to the will of God, Who wants all men to acknowledge each   
   other as brothers and to live as such, forming a great human family in the   
   harmony of diversity".   
    Following the greetings in different languages, the Pope invited all to pray   
   to   
   the Lord, each following his or her own tradition, that He might make us   
   brothers together and servants to our brothers in need.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pakistan and Afghanistan in Francis' prayers   
    Vatican City, 28 October 2015 (VIS) - Following today's general audience the   
   Holy Father launched an appeal for the populations of Pakistan and Afghanistan,   
   afflicted by a major earthquake that has claimed many victims and caused   
   devastating material damage. "Let us pray for the deceased, their families, and   
   for all the injured and homeless, imploring consolation in suffering and   
   courage   
   in adversity. May there be no lack of concrete solidarity for these, our   
   brothers".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Chirograph for the institution of the Foundation Gravissimum Educationis   
    Vatican City, 28 October 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has instituted the   
   Foundation Gravissimum Educationis by a chirograph bearing today's date. In the   
   text, the Holy Father expresses his gratitude to the Congregation for Catholic   
   Education for the initiatives organised to commemorate the fiftieth year since   
   the declaration "Gravissimum educationis" on Christian education, promulgated   
   the the Vatican Ecumenical Council II on 28 October 1965.   
    "I am likewise pleased to learn that the same Dicastery wishes to constitute   
   on   
   this occasion a Foundation entitled Gravissimum Educationis, with the aim of   
   pursuing "scientific and cultural ends, intended to promote Catholic education   
   in the world", he adds. "The Church recognises the 'extreme importance of   
   education in the life of man and how its influence ever grows in the social   
   progress of this age', are profoundly linked to the fulfilment of 'the mandate   
   she has received from her divine founder of proclaiming the mystery of   
   salvation   
   to all men and of restoring all things in Christ'", he writes, quoting the   
   conciliar Declaration.   
    The Pope goes on to institute as public canonical and civil juridical persons   
   the Foundation Gravissimum Educationis, whose premises will be located in   
   Vatican City and which will be subject to current canon law, current civil law   
   in Vatican City, and its statutes.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Representatives of different religions on the conciliar Declaration "Nostra   
   Aetate"   
    Vatican City, 28 October 2015 (VIS) - At 12.30 this afternoon in the Holy See   
   Press Office a conference was held with the representatives of the different   
   religions present at this morning's interreligious general audience and those   
   attending the International Congress to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of   
   the conciliar Declaration "Nostra Aetate", held from 26 to 28 October at the   
   Pontifical Gregorian University.   
    The speakers were Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratna (Buddhism), Claudio Epelman   
   (Judaism), Rabbi David Rose (Judaism), Swami Chidanand Saraswati (Hinduism),   
   Rasoul Rasoulipour (Islam), Abdellah Redouane (Islam), Samani Pratibha Pragya   
   (Jainism) and Brinder Singh Mahon (Sikhism).   
    The central theme of the conference was the importance of the Declaration and   
   how it has facilitated openness on the journeys of dialogue and reconciliation   
   between different religions.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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