In the background stands the Basilica of Notre-Dame, hit by fire in 2019, now rebuilt and ready to reopen for prayer in December. Gathered in the churchyard – some in colorful clothes, some in austere tunics – are Sunni and Shiite Muslim imams and theologians, Jewish rabbis, bishops, pastors and representatives of the various Christian confessions, Hindus and Buddhist monks, sages of Eastern religions, intellectuals of secular and humanist thought, for the final ceremony of the international meeting “Imagining Peace” (Paris, 22-24 September 2024). “We carry in our hearts – they say in the final appeal – the pain of so many peoples for the wars in progress”. They were discussed during the three days: Gaza, Sudan, Congo, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, from those who are swallowed up by the Mediterranean to those who are “reified” by the trafficking on the Mexico-US border.
Bombs have just dropped on Lebanon, more children are being killed, the Middle East is facing a new escalation: “Stop the war!”, the words of Pope Francis, read by the apostolic nuncio, shake the square full of young people. He repeats again, addressing the political leaders: “Stop the war! We are destroying the world! Let’s stop while we still have time!”. Bergoglio’s message is strong and clear, since the clouds of the present darken the horizon. He adds: “While many continue to wage war, we can all work for peace”, being careful not to give in to the warmongering climate: “We must keep religions away from the temptation to become an instrument that fuels nationalism, ethnicity, populism. Wars are intensifying. Woe to those who try to drag God into wars!”.
The Pope cites the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Human Coexistence”, signed with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in Abu Dhabi, on 4 February 2019: «Religions must never incite war, nor solicit sentiments of hatred, hostility or extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood. These misfortunes are the fruit of deviation from religious teachings, the political use of religions and also of the interpretations of groups of religious men who have abused – in some phases of history – the influence of religious sentiment on the hearts of men».
Migration, Europe, the Mediterranean, democracy, dialogue with non-believers, Africa today, nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, countries at war, the ecological question, social inequalities: these are the themes of the three-day Paris event. In addition to the panels, there were also moments of dialogue, of consolidated friendships and also of different but confronting opinions. Marco Impagliazzo sums them up like this: «We listened to each other and we understood: we need to get out, starting with ourselves, from blocked positions». We need «the courage to risk peace». «This evening – continues the president of Sant’Egidio – we want to raise a strong cry of protest: a cry of resistance in the face of war and so much violence. We protest in front of the world for all the dead (the majority of them innocent victims). No! War is not our future, it cannot be our destiny!». Under the vaults of Notre-Dame comes a strong accusation of the «militarization of international relations».
Next year, it is announced, the meeting will be in Rome. In the meantime, the 2024 Peace Appeal is proclaimed, the fruit of the meeting: each leader signs it, lighting the candle and placing it in a candelabrum. It is significant that representatives of Judaism and Islam do it together, while the light resists the Parisian rain. The Appeal reads: “We have tried to imagine, in these days, a future of peace for this world, for those who are bitterly involved in war, for those who are affected by terrorism”. Religions, in the past also crossed by fanaticism and exploitation against each other, want to be water that extinguishes conflicts: “War in the name of God is blasphemy”.
The international meeting reflected on how the culture of peace has also dissipated in Europe: “The memory of the horror of war has been lost,” says the Appeal, “that legacy of the two world wars of the twentieth century that shows how only peace is a humane and just alternative.” For this reason, in the square in Paris, ninety-three-year-old Gilberte Fournier remembers “that sad period in which one has a heavy heart.” “You don’t eat every day,” she says in a voice that is both weak and firm, “when there is war; I became weak, because of scurvy and also because of fear. We had to go down to the cellar continuously as soon as the siren sounded.” One day the door suddenly opened because of a bomb explosion: “There were screams and shouts. We were very scared, we had to stay lying down as much as possible, there were sandbags everywhere in front of the doors.” It is the violence of war: “I saw the bombs fall not far from me. It is not nice for a child to see these things. We slept on the ground, in barns, in the sacristies of churches. Those who survived the world conflict then “imagined peace”: “I am here before you,” the elderly woman’s tone rises when she addresses the young people, “to tell you that we must not lose the memory of the great evil. This is why I am testifying today, to make young people stand in solidarity with the memory of elderly people like me: do not let yourselves be convinced that war is inevitable, but preserve and foster the peace that my generation imagined after the war. Love peace! Love others. And build a common future.”
photo, Sant’Egidio Community