The international meeting of religions and cultures of Rome, which was organized by the catholic community of Sant ‘Egidio, was completed with the speech of Pope Francis. The Pope, in his speech, referred with emphasis to the speech of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
“We have to change the relations between the peoples, but also the relations of the peoples with the planet. Here in the Colosseum, there were fratricidal spectacles, but even today wars and violence are in progress”, stressed Pope Francis.
He stressed that “no one can play with the lives of children and the lives of peoples and remain indifferent” and that “on the contrary, we must learn to sympathize” because religions must demilitarize the human heart”.
“Bartholomew helped us mature our awareness that any crime against nature is a crime against ourselves and is a sin against God. The air we breathe is full of toxic substances and poor in solidarity,” the Pope said emphatically.
He called on everyone to “turn off the temptation of fundamentalism from every religious tradition.” “We dream of a world with sister religions and brotherly peoples,” said Pope Francis.