Benedict's decision to include agnostics, to whom he dedicated the conclusion of his address, was the choice most revealing of his priorities. In acknowledgment of their presence, Thursday's official program called for "reflection and/or prayer," and the day itself was rechristened one of "reflection, dialogue and prayer." Thus at a gathering of religious leaders, worship had become optional.

This change, redefining the group as united not by faith but by the desire for peace and justice, ruled out any interpretation of their meeting as an advertisement for religious syncretism. Even more importantly, opening the dialogue to nonreligious "seekers of the truth" underscored one of the major themes of Benedict's pontificate: the need for Western culture to restore its dialogue between faith and reason, and thus to rehabilitate the concept of objective truth in the realms of metaphysics and ethics.

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Filed under: * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI

1. TACit wrote: Good to see this article in this newspaper.  It didn’t really capture the essence or high points of the 2011 event for me, after I watched much of it live-streamed, but is rather more analytical.  I just now happened upon this link to the impressive video of about 13 minutes’ duration that was projected for the opening of the event last Thursday, after everyone was seated and perhaps after Cardinal Turkson had given his welcome: http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-1100a6ff-8d76-472e-9de4-760b475beb52.html It is very worth watching to grasp how the previous Assisi and other events in their context of then-current world events were visually and audially summed up for the ‘recollection’ of those present at Assisi 2011.  There are English subtitles, although the video bears watching at least twice to get all the scenes as well as the visual English.  It finishes about 13:15-20. Interesting to contemplate that merely 3 years after Assisi 1986 (the one all the Lefebvrists objected to so strenuously, and less so Ratzinger himself), the Wall came down. Benedict XVI is the consummate professor, as well as student of history. October 28, 7:45 pm | [comment link]

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