Assisi summit, January 24, 2002. (Vatican).

Assisi--The summit meeting of leaders of the world's religions took place in Assisi, Italy, the birthplace of St. Francis, on January 24, 2002. The Pope had called the leaders together to reflect on war and violence and speak out against them.

The attendance was satisfying. At least 44 delegations--some 250 people--attended, with representatives from all religions. Among them were a large Muslim representation from Iran, plus representatives from 16 other Muslim national groups; eleven Orthodox patriarchs, led by ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (the Patriarch of Moscow did not attend, but did send a high-level delegation); a Jewish delegation with prominent leaders from Italy, France, and the United States; and delegates from many other religions. There were 850 reporters.

The Pope's message was clear. For him violence is anathema. "In no case can justice justify violence." How is violence overcome? Through forgiveness. He appealed for the commitment of all religious leaders to dispel the "dark clouds of terrorism, hatred, and armed conflict." "It is essential," he declared, "that religious peoples and communities should in the clearest and most radical way repudiate violence, all violence, starting with the violence that seeks to clothe itself in religion, appealing even to the most holy name of God in order to offend man."

No one else came near to speaking in the same clear language. The representative of Cairo's Al Azhar mosque, the most influential authority in Moslem spirituality, only affirmed that it is indispensable to promote justice and law. American rabbi Israel Singer declared that "no religion obliges us to kill indiscriminately." The leaders did unite in declaring: "Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again!"

At the conclusion of the speeches, the groups dispersed around the city to pray for peace, each according to its own rite. There was to be no favouring of "relativism or syncretism of any kind," the Pope had explained. Success cannot be easily calculated, but the meeting itself would have been an education for many (With files from Zenit and other sources).