By IRNA,
Holy See : Pope Benedict XVI has said that he would hold an interfaith meeting in Assisi, Italy, in October to mark the 25th anniversary of a watershed meeting held there by his predecessor, John Paul II.
In the ever-shifting legacy of a complex papacy, the announcement seemed intended to show Benedict’s goodwill toward other faiths after years in which he was criticized by Muslims, Jews and other Christian denominations, especially Anglicans.
Speaking in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Pope Benedict said the aim of the meeting would be to ‘to solemnly renew the effort of those with faith of all religions to live their faith as a service for the cause of peace’.
‘Facing the threatening tensions of the moment, especially discrimination, injustices and religious intolerance, which today strike Christians in a particular way, once again, I make a pressing appeal not to give in to discouragement and resignation,’ he said.
He said the October meeting would also ‘honour the memory of the historical event promoted by my predecessor’.
Pope John Paul hosted a similar event in 1986, which was attended by leading Jews and Muslims, as well as the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Pope Benedict has repeatedly denounced attacks on Christians in Iraq, including an assault on a Baghdad cathedral in October which killed at least 50 people.
His announcement came hours after a bomb went off at a church in Egypt.
Benedict said that he would travel as a pilgrim to Assisi in October, inviting Christians of other confessions, leaders of other world faiths “and, ideally, all men of goodwill, to recall the historic gesture sought by my predecessor and to solemnly renew the commitment of the faithful of all religious to live their own religious faith as a service for the cause of peace.”