VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI in Assisi - “I feel it is my duty to launch from here a pressing appeal for an end to all the armed conflicts which bloody the earth. May weapons be silent, and everywhere may hatred give way to love, offence to forgiveness and discord to union!”

Assisi (Fides Service) - On Sunday 17 June at the end of Mass in front of the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi Pope Benedict XVI sent greeting to the members of other Christian confessions and other religions who accepted John Paul II's call in 1986 to come to the home town of St Francis of Assisi for World Day of Prayer for Peace. Pope Benedict XVI also launched a call for an end to conflicts everywhere in the world.
“I feel it is my duty to launch from here a pressing appeal for an end to all the armed conflicts with bloody the earth. May weapons be silent, and everywhere may hatred give way to love, offence to forgiveness and discord to union! - the Pope said - We sense the spiritual presence of all who grieve, suffer and die anywhere in the world because of war and its tragic consequences. Our thoughts go especially to the Holy Land, a land so loved by St Francis, from Iraq to Lebanon, to the whole of the Middle East. For too long those peoples have experienced the horrors of combat, terrorism , blind violence, the illusion that force can solve conflicts, refusal to listen to the reasons of the other person and to give him justice. Only dialogue, responsible and sincere, with generous support from the international, community, can put an end to so much suffering and restore life and dignity to individuals, institutions and peoples”.
The Pontiff recalled the conversion of young Francis eight centuries ago, and explained the significance of the places he was visiting: “My pilgrimage to Assisi today is to call to mind that event and to relive its significance and importance”. Pope Benedict XVI said St Francis was a “great educator for our faith and our worship ”, because “he fell in love with Jesus Christ and in doing so encountered the face of God-Love, and became His passionate cantor”. The Pope concluded asking St Francis to intercede that “many may accept to become ‘channels of His peace’, with a thousand small actions in every day life” and that “those with positions of responsibility may be filled with passionate love for peace and an indomitable will to reach it, choosing the best means for achieving it.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 18/6/2007; righe 26, parole 362)