Prayers for Peace Amid Memories of War
IN November 1994, Pope John Paul II hosted a multidenominational assembly in the Vatican. Prayers for world peace marked the occasion. “Whatever the conflicts of the past and even of the present,” said the pope in his opening address, “it is our common task and duty to make the relation between religion and peace better known.”
Ironically, religions of this world have a poor reputation in this regard. William Vendley, secretary-general of the conference, acknowledged that “religions are deeply involved in conflicts in various parts of the world.” Consider the massacres in Rwanda, a predominantly Roman Catholic land.
In May 1994, Pope John Paul II admitted that the Rwandan tragedy was “a real and true genocide for which, unfortunately, even Catholics are responsible.” Has Catholic participation affected people’s belief in the church? “The massacres have shaken many people’s faith,” said André Bouillot, a Belgian Jesuit. And with good reason.
According to a Reuters report published in the Miami Herald, “priests, pastors and nuns are among the 40,000 Hutu prisoners awaiting trial for acts of genocide.” The New York Times reported: “Many Rwandans say their bishops and archbishops did not condemn the massacres quickly or forcefully enough and that they were too close to the Habyarimana Government, which helped to train the death squads. At least one priest has been arrested by the new Tutsi-dominated Government on charges of collaboration in the massacres.” Not surprisingly, “the new Government,” adds the Times, “says it does not want the Catholic Church to be as powerful as before, and soldiers have harassed and even threatened to arrest priests who are too outspoken and independent.”
How does Jehovah God view prayers for peace that are offered by bloodguilty religionists? Isaiah 1:15 answers: “When you spread out your palms, I hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I am not listening; with bloodshed your very hands have become filled.”
Meanwhile, Jehovah’s true servants remain “no part of the world” and its conflicts. During the massacres in Rwanda, Jehovah’s Witnesses of each tribe provided asylum in their homes for threatened Witnesses of the other tribe, thus protecting them at risk to their own lives. The “great crowd” of Witnesses, drawn worldwide from every ethnic background, pray for and advocate God’s Kingdom as the only hope for true peace and security.—John 17:14; Revelation 7:9; Matthew 6:9, 10; 24:14.
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Luc Delahaye/Sipa Press