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EDUCATION FOR DIALOGUE:
MESSAGE FOR THE END OF RAMADAN
Dear Muslim Friends,
1. First of all I wish to send you my best wishes for ‘Id al-Fitr with which the month of Ramadan closes.
Together with the other religious practices which accompany it, such as prayer
and alms-giving, Ramadan is a time for assessing relationships with God and with
one’s fellow human beings, a time for turning back to God and towards one’s
brothers and sisters. Fasting is one of the ways in which we give worship to
God, come to the help of the poor and strengthen family ties and the bonds of
friendship. Fasting is a form of education, for it reveals to us our own
weakness and opens us up to God, so that we may be open to others.
Though the fast you observe has its own characteristics and discipline, fasting
is a practice which is also common to Christianity and to other religions. This
month provides a propitious moment therefore for us to remind ourselves of
“the spiritual bonds which unite us”, to use the words of Pope John Paul II.
2. The Year 2001 has been proclaimed by the United Nations as “The
International Year of Dialogue between Civilizations”. This gives an
opportunity to reflect on the bases of dialogue, on its consequences and on the
fruit which humanity may harvest from it. The dialogue of civilizations, the
dialogue of cultures, the dialogue between religions, are nothing less than
human encounters whose purpose is to build up a civilization of love and peace.
We are all called to promote such dialogue according to its distinctive forms,
as a way of bringing about appreciation of other cultures and religions.
3. All who are concerned with the education of youth are certainly conscious of
the need of educating for dialogue. In accompanying young people along the
highways of life, attention has to be given to the preparation required for
living in a society marked by ethnic, cultural and religious plurality.
Such education implies, first of all, that we broaden our vision to an ever
wider horizon, become capable of looking beyond our own country, our own ethnic
group, our own cultural tradition, so that we can see humanity as a single
family in both its diversity and its common aspirations. This is education in
the fundamental values of human dignity, peace, freedom and solidarity. It
evokes the desire to know other people, to be able to share their sorrows and to
understand their deepest feelings. Education for dialogue means nurturing the
hope that conflict situations can be resolved through personal and collective
commitment.
Education for dialogue is not just for children and young people, it is also
important for adults. For true dialogue is an ongoing process.
4. In October 1999 an Interreligious Assembly, “On the Eve of the Third
Millennium. Collaboration among the Different Religions”, brought together in
the Vatican some 200 persons belonging to about 20 different religious
traditions. 36 Muslims, from 21 different countries, were present and took an
active part in the deliberations and in the writing of the Final Message. This
Message confirms the importance of education for promoting understanding,
cooperation and mutual respect. It lists some of the ways and means of carrying
out this education: support for the family, assistance to young people in the
formation of conscience, the provision of objective information about different
religions especially in textbooks, respect of the mass media for the various
religions, so that each one can recognize itself in the image projected.
5. The Final Report of the Assembly also referred to education as the key to
promoting interreligious harmony through respect for different religious
traditions. Is it necessary to repeat what the participants said about
education? That it is a process which enables one, above and beyond the
knowledge of other religions, to come to an appreciation of others through real
attentiveness and true respect. Is it not the noblest of arts to learn to
respect and love truth, justice, peace and reconciliation?
6. Prayer and fasting dispose each one of us to fulfil our duties better,
including that of educating the younger generations about the dialogue of
civilizations and religions. May God assist us in achieving this aim in the best
way possible. On the occasion of ‘Id
al-Fitr may He grant you the grace of serenity and prosperity, and bestow on
you His abundant blessings. We are sure that God listens to the prayer which
rises to Him from a sincere heart: for you, as for us, He is a Generous God.
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