Dialogue, joint aid show world religion is force for good, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When people of different religions work together to serve people in need, they show the world that faith promotes peace and not hostility, Pope Leo XIV said.

"When our dialogue is lived out in actions, a powerful message resounds: that peace, not conflict, is our most cherished dream, and that building this peace is a task we undertake together," the pope said in a message to an interreligious meeting in Bangladesh.

Cardinal George Koovakad, prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, was visiting Dhaka, the country's capital, Sept. 6-11 to meet with church leaders, seminarians and civil authorities and to participate in the interreligious meeting with A.F.M. Khalid Hossain, the government's religious affairs adviser.

In his message, released at the Vatican Sept. 9, Pope Leo told participants, "Every group discussion, every joint service project or shared meal, every courtesy shown to a neighbor of another religion -- these are bricks of what St. John Paul II called 'a civilization of love.'"

Islam is the state religion of Bangladesh, according to the country's constitution, and more than 90% of its population is Muslim. But the constitution also recognizes freedom of religion for all the nation's 167 million inhabitants. About 8% of the population is Hindu and, according to Vatican statistics, there are about 433,000 Catholics.

The theme for the interreligious meeting was "Promoting a Culture of Harmony between Brothers and Sisters," which Pope Leo said not only reflected the openness of participants, but also demonstrated their belief that "our human community is truly one -- in origin and in destiny under God."

"As one family," the pope wrote, "we share the opportunity and the responsibility to continue nurturing a culture of harmony and peace," an environment where people can grow and thrive.

"Just as a healthy ecosystem allows diverse plants to flourish side by side, so too a healthy social culture allows diverse communities to thrive in harmony," he said.

"Such a culture must be carefully cultivated," Pope Leo wrote. "It requires the sunlight of truth, the water of charity and the soil of freedom and justice."

History shows that "when the culture of harmony is neglected, weeds can choke out peace. Suspicions take root; stereotypes harden; extremists exploit fears to sow division," he said.

The role of truly religious people, he said, is to tend the garden "to keep dialogue fertile and to clear away the weeds of prejudice."

One of the best ways to do that, Pope Leo said, is to "stand together in service to society's most vulnerable," especially in times of natural disasters or tragedy.

"Such gestures build bridges -- between faiths, between theory and practice, between communities," the pope wrote. "They also strengthen the resilience of communities against voices of division."

"Cooperating in every good work is a most effective antidote to forces that would draw us into hostility and aggression," Pope Leo said.