medicine, industry and welfare, especially in developed countries, we wish to emphasize that, associated with
such historic advancements, great and valued as they are, there exists both a moral deterioration that influences
international action and a weakening of spiritual values and responsibility. All this contributes to a general feeling
of frustration, isolation and desperation leading many to fall either into a vortex of atheistic, agnostic or religious
extremism, or into blind and fanatic extremism, which ultimately encourage forms of dependency and individual
or collective self-destruction.
History shows that religious extremism, national extremism and also intolerance have produced in the world, be
it in the East or West, what might be referred to as signs of a “third world war being fought piecemeal”. In several
parts of the world and in many tragic circumstances these signs have begun to be painfully apparent, as in those
situations where the precise number of victims, widows and orphans is unknown. We see, in addition, other
regions preparing to become theatres of new conflicts, with outbreaks of tension and a build-up of arms and
ammunition, and all this in a global context overshadowed by uncertainty, disillusionment, fear of the future, and
controlled by narrow-minded economic interests.
We likewise affirm that major political crises, situations of injustice and lack of equitable distribution of natural
resources – which only a rich minority benefit from, to the detriment of the majority of the peoples of the earth –
have generated, and continue to generate, vast numbers of poor, infirm and deceased persons. This leads to
catastrophic crises that various countries have fallen victim to despite their natural resources and the
resourcefulness of young people which characterize these nations. In the face of such crises that result in the
deaths of millions of children – wasted away from poverty and hunger – there is an unacceptable silence on the
international level.
It is clear in this context how the family as the fundamental nucleus of society and humanity is essential in
bringing children into the world, raising them, educating them, and providing them with solid moral formation and
domestic security. To attack the institution of the family, to regard it with contempt or to doubt its important role,
is one of the most threatening evils of our era.
We affirm also the importance of awakening religious awareness and the need to revive this awareness in the
hearts of new generations through sound education and an adherence to moral values and upright religious
teachings. In this way we can confront tendencies that are individualistic, selfish, conflicting, and also address
radicalism and blind extremism in all its forms and expressions.
The first and most important aim of religions is to believe in God, to honour Him and to invite all men and women
to believe that this universe depends on a God who governs it. He is the Creator who has formed us with His
divine wisdom and has granted us the gift of life to protect it. It is a gift that no one has the right to take away,
threaten or manipulate to suit oneself. Indeed, everyone must safeguard this gift of life from its beginning up to
its natural end. We therefore condemn all those practices that are a threat to life such as genocide, acts of
terrorism, forced displacement, human trafficking, abortion and euthanasia. We likewise condemn the policies
that promote these practices.
Moreover, we resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism,
nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood. These tragic realities are the consequence of a deviation
from religious teachings. They result from a political manipulation of religions and from interpretations made by
religious groups who, in the course of history, have taken advantage of the power of religious sentiment in the
hearts of men and women in order to make them act in a way that has nothing to do with the truth of religion.
This is done for the purpose of achieving objectives that are political, economic, worldly and short-sighted. We
thus call upon all concerned to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism,
and to refrain from using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression. We ask this
on the basis of our common belief in God who did not create men and women to be killed or to fight one another,
nor to be tortured or humiliated in their lives and circumstances. God, the Almighty, has no need to be defended
by anyone and does not want His name to be used to terrorize people.
This Document, in accordance with previous International Documents
that have emphasized the importance of
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