The Message of Pope John Paul II sent to the Millennium World Peace Summit

HOLY SEE PERMANENT OBSERVER MISSION OF THE HOLY SEE TO THE UNITED NATIONS

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Message of the Holy Father John Paul II

on the Occasion of the Millennium World Peace Summitof Religious and Spiritual LeadersNew York, 28-31 August 2000

I have followed with interest the preparations for the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders taking place on 28-31 August 2000 in New York, and through you I am happy to greet all those taking part in the Summit. It is significant that the event has been organized at the United Nations which I have encouraged to be "a family of nations" and which I have reminded that "the politics of nations... can never ignore the transcendent spiritual dimension of human experience" (Address to the Fiftieth General Assembly, 5 October 1995).

At the dawn of the new millennium, the Summit provides an occasion to take stock of our present situation and to plan for what needs to be done if religion is to be an ever greater force for peace in the world. It is an exceptional opportunity to make it abundantly clear that the only religion worthy of the name is the religion that leads to peace and that true religion is mocked when it is tied to conflict and violence.

The problems facing humanity now are so large and complex that no single people or nation can solve them in isolation; nor can the building of peace be the work of politicians and diplomats alone. It is a task to which all must contribute; and religious and spiritual leaders have an especially important role to play. Religions cannot provide technical solutions to all the world's problems, for that is not their task. But they do offer a moral and spiritual wisdom which illuminates and teaches the transcendent truth of the human person. From this alone there comes the respect for human dignity without which there can be no justice, solidarity or peace.

How right it is then that religious leaders from around the world and from so many spiritual traditions should come together to strengthen the desire for peace. It is a sign of hope when religious and spiritual leaders can say to the world with one voice that peace is possible, that peace is our sacred duty, that peace is the future willed by God. I assure all the participants that I am spiritually close to them as they seek to promote the good of the whole human family. May the Lord of heaven and earth shed light upon our path and may that path lead us to his peace!

From the Vatican, 22 July 2000