“From the outset, the meeting of Assisi was a mosaic of races, nationalities and beliefs. All together to show the world that it is possible to dialogue and respect each other despite diversity.”
There were 500 participants including Nobel Laureates, UN representatives, the chief rabbis of Turkey and Brussels, Orthodox, Protestant, Hindu and Muslim delegations from around the world. Also present, were the representatives for the Grand Mufti of Lebanon and Al-Azhar University in Egypt.
“The representatives of nine religions had a clear message: to denounce fundamentalism as an instrumentality of God.”
What is fundamentalism? The pope teaches that anyone who holds to absolute truth is a fundamentalist. Fundamentalism is “a disease of all religions,” he said. “We Catholics, we have a few, even many fundamentalists. They believe they know absolute truth and corrupt others…” Where do we go for absolute truth? The Pope or the Bible?
“Religions are not the cause of the problem but part of the solution; therefore religious leaders have the responsibility to come together, meet to propose values.”
What does it mean to propose values? Friends, if I propose a value that we all should share, and you adopt that value? I have shaped your thoughts and actions, haven’t I? That’s what this meeting was designed to do; unite the religions around values that are in support of the common good of the whole world.
Pope Francis says the world is bleeding in a time of a “piecemeal Third World War.” Not just by two fragments, but hundreds of conflicting positions fighting each other.
To end this, the pope proposes that all religions join in the ecumenical spirit so that there will not be so much fragmentation and war. Ecumenical gatherings such as the meeting in Assisi send a firm message of unity in diversity.
Global religious unity will put ecumenical pressure on the leading churches of the United States to join the movement. They in turn will form the image of the beast.
“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” Great Controversy, page 445.