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INTENTION : |
For collaboration between different religious traditions.
Let us pray that believers in different religious traditions might work together to defend and promote peace, justice and human fraternity.
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FOCUS
Pope Leo XIV's prayer intention for October 2025, focused on collaboration between different religious traditions to defend and promote peace, justice, and human fraternity, fits into a long tradition of interreligious dialogue that has been a cornerstone of his pontificate. This intention is especially relevant in the context of the 50th anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation Nostra Aetate, a document from the Second Vatican Council that revolutionized the Catholic Church's relationship with other religions.
Nostra Aetate is a historic document that paved the way for mutual understanding and respect between the Catholic Church and the other religions of the world. As we celebrate its 50th anniversary, we can reflect on the progress made in interreligious dialogue since its promulgation and recognize the work that still needs to be done to achieve the vision of universal fraternity it proposes.
In our world, interreligious dialogue for world peace is essential. In a world often divided by interests that instrumentalize religion, interreligious dialogue offers a path to understanding and reconciliation, demonstrating that it is possible to overcome differences in the name of common goals such as peace and justice. Collaboration between religious traditions is not limited to dialogue; it also involves working together on concrete initiatives that promote social justice and the well-being of all. The essence of religions is to seek to promote a dignified life for all human beings, promoting the common good.
The instrumentalization of religion to promote political or ideological agendas is one of the main sources of conflict in our world. In this sense, interreligious dialogue becomes a powerful tool for dismantling misunderstandings and building bridges of understanding and cooperation. By working together, believers from different traditions can demonstrate that beyond theological differences, there is a shared commitment to universal values that can lead humanity towards a more peaceful and just future.
Now, Pope Leo XIV's own life and ministry serve as an inspiring model of how dialogue and interreligious collaboration can build bridges and heal divisions. His courageous calls to end wars and conflicts in a way is to promote understanding between different religious traditions and underscores his conviction that it is possible to work together for a more fraternal world.
ATTITUDES FOR DAILY LIFE
1. Collaborating for the common good
"Together we can praise the Creator for giving us the garden of the world to till and keep as a common good, and we can achieve shared plans to overcome poverty and to ensure to every man and woman the conditions for a dignified life."
Focus on what unites you with those of different faiths, to collaborate on the good you can do together.
2. Knowing and respecting each other
"Mutual respect is the condition and, at the same time, the aim of interreligious dialogue: respecting others' right to life, to physical integrity, to fundamental freedoms, namely freedom of conscience, of thought, of expression and of religion."
Sacred respect for those who do not share your faith is the foundation for building unity. How can you grow in respect and deep understanding of those who think differently?
3. Learning from one another
"When we approach a person who professes their religion with conviction, their testimony and their thought challenge us and lead us to ask ourselves about our own spirituality."
Connect with brothers and sisters of different faiths, not through doctrine, but by valuing their testimony in favour of the common good. Let your testimony inspire others to love God more.
4. Praying together for humanity
"We believers do not have solutions for these problems, but we have a great resource: prayer. And we believers pray."
Do you take time to pray? Remember that in prayer you join all believers and people of good will for the sake of humanity.
5. Defending and promoting peace
"The world looks to us believers, urging us to collaborate with each other and with men and women of good will who do not profess any religion."
What response do you want to give from your place to collaborate with those who seek to help the most needy and creation? Live your love for God in communion with other believers who seek the same, even if they are from different traditions.
MONTHLY PRAYER
"That all may be one" (John 17:21)
Lord, how difficult Your word is for me today!
It is a call to fraternity and therefore
a call to openness to Your Father who is the Father of all.
Lord, give us the understanding in our hearts
that only with the awareness of being children who are not orphans
can we live in peace with one another.
You are one God, living and active in the world ...
But how hard it is for us to find agreement
among those of different religions!
We need Your grace to recognize and
value the many things we have in common
and to realize that it is possible to find
a way of living together in serenity, order, and peace.
You are the starting point,
the gaze of God, Your gaze,
because You look with the heart
and love each person
regardless of their religion.
We bring before you our desire
to work together for the common good,
to accompany life, sustain hope,
and be signs of unity.
Lord, make us artisans of peace!
Amen.
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