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Pope Benedict XVI- Apostolic Journey to the Holy Land |
"Ideological Manipulation of Religion...Is the Real Catalyst for
Tension and Division"
Address
Upon Visiting King Hussein bin Talal Mosque
H.H. Benedict XVI
Amman, Jordan
May 9, 2009
Your Royal Highness,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a source of great joy for me to meet with you this morning in
this magnificent setting. I wish to thank Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammed
Bin Talal for his kind words of welcome. Your Royal Highness's
numerous initiatives to promote inter-religious and inter-cultural
dialogue and exchanges are appreciated by the people of the
Hashemite Kingdom and they are widely respected by the international
community. I know that these efforts receive the active support of
other members of the Royal Family as well as the nation's
government, and find ample resonance in the many initiatives of
collaboration among Jordanians. For all this, I wish to express my
own heartfelt admiration.
Places of worship, like this splendid Al-Hussein Bin Talal mosque
named after the revered late King, stand out like jewels across the
earth's surface. From the ancient to the modern, the magnificent to
the humble, they all point to the divine, to the Transcendent One,
to the Almighty. And through the centuries these sanctuaries have
drawn men and women into their sacred space to pause, to pray, to
acknowledge the presence of the Almighty, and to recognize that we
are all his creatures.
For this reason we cannot fail to be concerned that today, with
increasing insistency, some maintain that religion fails in its
claim to be, by nature, a builder of unity and harmony, an
expression of communion between persons and with God. Indeed some
assert that religion is necessarily a cause of division in our
world; and so they argue that the less attention given to religion
in the public sphere the better. Certainly, the contradiction of
tensions and divisions between the followers of different religious
traditions, sadly, cannot be denied. However, is it not also the
case that often it is the ideological manipulation of religion,
sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tension
and division, and at times even violence in society? In the face of
this situation, where the opponents of religion seek not simply to
silence its voice but to replace it with their own, the need for
believers to be true to their principles and beliefs is felt all the
more keenly. Muslims and Christians, precisely because of the burden
of our common history so often marked by misunderstanding, must
today strive to be known and recognized as worshippers of God
faithful to prayer, eager to uphold and live by the Almighty's
decrees, merciful and compassionate, consistent in bearing witness
to all that is true and good, and ever mindful of the common origin
and dignity of all human persons, who remain at the apex of God's
creative design for the world and for history.
The resolve of Jordanian educators and religious and civic leaders
to ensure that the public face of religion reflects its true nature
is praiseworthy. The example of individuals and communities,
together with the provision of courses and programmes, manifest the
constructive contribution of religion to the educational, cultural,
social and other charitable sectors of your civic society. Some of
this spirit I have been able to sample at first hand. Yesterday, I
experienced the renowned educational and rehabilitation work of the
Our Lady of Peace Centre where Christians and Muslims are
transforming the lives of entire families, by assisting them to
ensure that their disabled children take up their rightful place in
society. Earlier this morning, I blessed the foundation stone of
Madaba University where young Muslim and Christian adults will side
by side receive the benefits of a tertiary education, enabling them
to contribute justly to the social and economic development of their
nation. Of great merit too are the numerous initiatives of
inter-religious dialogue supported by the Royal Family and the
diplomatic community and sometimes undertaken in conjunction with
the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. These include
the ongoing work of the Royal Institutes for Inter-faith studies and
for Islamic Thought, theAmman Message of 2004, the Amman Interfaith
Message of 2005, and the more recent Common Word letter which echoed
a theme consonant with my first encyclical: the unbreakable bond
between love of God and love of neighbour, and the fundamental
contradiction of resorting to violence or exclusion in the name of
God (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 16).
Such initiatives clearly lead to greater reciprocal knowledge, and
they foster a growing respect both for what we hold in common and
for what we understand differently. Thus, they should prompt
Christians and Muslims to probe even more deeply the essential
relationship between God and his world so that together we may
strive to ensure that society resonates in harmony with the divine
order. In this regard, the co-operation found here in Jordan sets an
encouraging and persuasive example for the region, and indeed the
world, of the positive, creative contribution which religion can and
must make to civic society.
Distinguished friends, today I wish to refer to a task which I have
addressed on a number of occasions and which I firmly believe
Christians and Muslims can embrace, particularly through our
respective contributions to learning and scholarship, and public
service. That task is the challenge to cultivate for the good, in
the context of faith and truth, the vast potential of human reason.
Christians in fact describe God, among other ways, as creative
Reason, which orders and guides the world. And God endows us with
the capacity to participate in his reason and thus to act in
accordance with what is good. Muslims worship God, the Creator of
Heaven and Earth, who has spoken to humanity. And as believers in
the one God we know that human reason is itself God's gift and that
it soars to its highest plane when suffused with the light of God's
truth. In fact, when human reason humbly allows itself to be
purified by faith, it is far from weakened; rather, it is
strengthened to resist presumption and to reach beyond its own
limitations. In this way, human reason is emboldened to pursue its
noble purpose of serving mankind, giving expression to our deepest
common aspirations and extending, rather than manipulating or
confining, public debate. Thus, genuine adherence to religion - far
from narrowing our minds - widens the horizon of human
understanding. It protects civil society from the excesses of the
unbridled ego which tend to absolutize the finite and eclipse the
infinite; it ensures that freedom is exercised hand in hand with
truth, and it adorns culture with insights concerning all that is
true, good and beautiful.
This understanding of reason, which continually draws the human mind
beyond itself in the quest for the Absolute, poses a challenge; it
contains a sense of both hope and caution. Together, Christians and
Muslims are impelled to seek all that is just and right. We are
bound to step beyond our particular interests and to encourage
others, civil servants and leaders in particular, to do likewise in
order to embrace the profound satisfaction of serving the common
good, even at personal cost. And we are reminded that because it is
our common human dignity which gives rise to universal human rights,
they hold equally for every man and woman, irrespective of his or
her religious, social or ethnic group. In this regard, we must note
that the right of religious freedom extends beyond the question of
worship and includes the right - especially of minorities - to fair
access to the employment market and other spheres of civic life.
Before I leave you this morning I would like to acknowledge in a
special way the presence among us of His Beatitude Emmanuel III
Delly, Patriarch of Baghdad, whom I greet most warmly. His presence
brings to mind the people of neighbouring Iraq many of whom have
found welcome refuge here in Jordan. The international community's
efforts to promote peace and reconciliation, together with those of
the local leaders, must continue in order to bear fruit in the lives
of Iraqis. I wish to express my appreciation for all those who are
assisting in the endeavors to deepen trust and to rebuild the
institutions and infrastructure essential to the well-being of that
society. And once again, I urge diplomats and the international
community they represent together with local political and religious
leaders to do everything possible to ensure the ancient Christian
community of that noble land its fundamental right to peaceful
coexistence with their fellow citizens.
Distinguished friends, I trust that the sentiments I have expressed
today will leave us with renewed hope for the future. Our love and
duty before the Almighty is expressed not only in our worship but
also in our love and concern for children and young people - your
families - and for all Jordanians. It is for them that you labor and
it is they who motivate you to place the good of every human person
at the heart of institutions, laws and the workings of society. May
reason, ennobled and humbled by the grandeur of God's truth,
continue to shape the life and institutions of this nation, in order
that families may flourish and that all may live in peace,
contributing to and drawing upon the culture that unifies this great
Kingdom!
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