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Peace Congress Participants Pray at Auschwitz
Leaders of the great world religions have prayed for peace and paid homage to the victims of Auschwitz. Participants in the International Encounter of Religions for Peace in Cracow toured the site of the camp. The pilgrims passed in silence through the camp gate with its inscription “Arbeit macht frei.” At the Death Wall, they lit candles and observed a minute of silence. The culmination of the event was a ceremony at the International Monument to the Victims of Fascism in Birkenau.
“The participants in the Encounter for Peace prayed for peace on earth and considered ways to perpetuate it,” said Jan Maria Szewek OFM. “The evil that is in the world is the result of man’s conscious, deliberate distancing of himself from God and the higher values. Auschwitz is the best proof that man has wanted to be a god unto himself and to establish in this world an order standing in clear contradistinction to that proposed by the Creator. People of good will aspiring to peace on earth could therefore hardly fail to come to this place. Through their presence, they wanted to say yes to the natural order and no to the order of might and violence set up by people of ill will,” added Father Szewek.
The leaders of many religions—cardinals and bishops, rabbis, and representatives of Islam and Buddhism—took part in the observances. Clergy of Orthodox and protestant Christian denominations were present. The visitors to the Auschwitz site on this day also included Grand Duke Henry of Luxembourg, who joined the pilgrims and their guide in touring the Memorial.
The religious leaders from all over the world placed wreaths at the Monument to the Victims of Fascism and on the plaques bearing inscriptions in the various languages spoken by the people murdered in the camp. The memorial ceremony concluded with the Jewish kaddish prayer and the exchange of the sign of peace.
The visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau was one of the most important items on the schedule of the International Encounter of Religions for Peace—Faith and Cultures in Dialogue, organized by the Archdiocese of Cracow and the Community of Sant’Egidio.
After the observance, participants in the pilgrimage spoke to the Catholic Information Agency (KAI).
Stanisław Cardinal Dziwisz, Archbishop of Cracow:
“Peace is a gift from God. The former Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp is the best possible place for prayers for this intention. It speaks to contemporary man and to future generations, showing how low man can sink in destroying his brother in humanity. The place is a symbol of crimes against humanity. The presence here of both John Paul Ii and Benedict XVI is a warning to the entire world and to politicians about the necessity of working for reconciliation and peace, rather than provoking the tension that led to a tragedy in the history of all humanity 70 years ago. I think that the visit by John Paul II was above all a great prayer for the victims and for the intention of peace. The visit by Benedict XVI had a somewhat different character, looking towards the future and reconciliation.”
David Brodman, head rabbi of Savyon in Israel:
“My father was murdered here. I was in Auschwitz a year ago. I do not know how to live with the awareness of the things that happened here. I am astounded that I do not faint, that God gives me strength. I am convinced that each person should come here and see the dimensions of this crime, because this could happen in our times.”
Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio:
“This is an important pilgrimage where Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, Jews, and also Muslims and Buddhists meet to come here to the abyss of pain where millions of people died, so that this can be the starting place for a new history, so that humanity will never again plunge into the abyss of horror.”
Theodore Edgar Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington:
“I think that this gathering fulfills a great desire of John Paul II. We must talk, we must go out to meet each other half way, we must love one another. I think that this is the message of the great Pope, the Servant of God John Paul II. Here, we are doing everything within our power to meet together, to build bridges that will lead the world onto the path of peace. This is also what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer.”
The People and Religions—Assisi in Cracow congress was organized on the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War and the 20th anniversary of the fall of communist regimes in East-Central Europe. Its name alludes to the historical Day of Prayer for Peace on October 27, 1986, when John Paul II invited people of many world religions to Assisi, where they prayed together for world peace. Representatives of various cultures and religions from around the world came to Cracow, along with representatives of the worlds of learning and politics. The meeting was co-organized by the Archdiocese of Cracow and the Community of Sant’Egidio, which has promoting the “spirit of Assisi” throughout the world for the last 23 years.
