Dialogue Among Believers is the Key to a Peaceful Future
JERUSALEM, JAN 1 (ZENIT).- Celebrations of the new year in the Holy Land were mared by the erection of the Millennium Cross on the hill "Ras El Ahmud," near the Mount of Olives. Jerusalem was filled with visitors and pilgrims, many of whom gathered in the Basilica of Gethsemane for a prayer vigil, followed by a candlelight procession.
The procession went precisely to "Ras El Ahmud," site of Pope Paul VI's "House of Abraham," a welcoming center for pilgrims of all creeds, Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike.
The theme of inter-religious dialogue has been recurring often in this end of the year in the Holy Land. For instance, Apostolic Nuncio in Israel Pietro Sambi led a prayer service on the Mount of Olives for a group including Catholics as well as Jews, Muslims, and other pilgrims from the Far East, especially Indonesia. Today, Archbishop Sambi was in Gaza with Yasser Arafat to plant a tree of hope, sign of "a better future" for the Palestinian people.
This morning, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah presided over a Pontifical Mass to celebrate World Day of Peace. In his homily, he reflected on life in the Holy Land, which he defined as being made up of "division and fusion."
The Patriarch's homily continued by raising many difficult questions. He first pondered how can the people of the Holy Land can continue to be Christians in the future. He wondered also if they were capable of understanding the message that the Lord of history has left them in their everyday life, that is, coexistence between the monotheistic religions of the city, and in a country that has become a center of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? ZE00010112
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