P R A Y I N G W I T H T H E C H U R C H
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INTENTION : |
That, for everyone in the world, an end be put to all forms of terrorism.
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Since the end of the Cold War, terrorism has developed into a sophisticated network of political, economic and technical collusion which goes beyond national borders to embrace the whole world. Well-organized terrorist groups can count on huge financial resources and develop wide-ranging strategies, striking innocent people who have nothing to do with the aims pursued by the terrorists. Terrorism springs from hatred; it is built on contempt for human life; it resorts to terror as a political and military means to impose its own vision of truth.
Terrorists believe in what they have undergone as absolute and their reaction in destroying even innocent lives seems to be justified. It comes from the conviction that one's own vision of the truth must be forced upon everyone else. This is an offence against human dignity, and ultimately against God whose image that person bears. It is a profanation of religion to declare oneself a terrorist in the name of God.
Christians hold that to show mercy is to live out the truth of our lives: we can and must be merciful because mercy has been shown us by God who is Love (Jn. 4:7-12). Until a culture of forgiveness prevails we cannot hope for a "politics" of forgiveness that goes against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil. Let us pray that all forms of terrorism will come to an end through the practice of Christian Love - the loftiest and most noble form of relationship between human beings.
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