The Warsaw event brought together Roman Catholic Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Father Doroteusz Sawicki of the Orthodox Church, as well as representatives from the Protestant churches, the Chief Rabbi of Poland and leaders of Poland’s Muslim community.
After prayers conducted by each community in the Polish language, excerpts from Psalm 62:”Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods: though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them” were recited in Polish, Hebrew, Latin, Arabic and Old Slavonic.
The Roman Catholic Church's Cardinal Nycz said that "peace is born in people's hearts."
He added: “It is the Lord that gives us peace, for which we often pray. While there’s a need to start with prayer, we should also spare no effort to introduce peace."
The Orthodox Church's Sawicki said that the first prayer for peace was contained in the words of Christ more than 2,000 years ago: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you."
He added that while all religions are striving to protect peace, it s regrettable that ”we often forget about it and are trying to build peace with a clenched fist of hatred rather than with an open hand of friendship.”
The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, singled out egoism as the greatest threat to peace, adding that "it is our duty to think about another human being and the divine sparkle that he carries."
Schudrich remembered Pope John Paul II, who headed the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005, as an extraordinary man “who saw God’s sparkle in every human being: a child, king or prime minister.”
(mk/gs)