Throughout the centuries, millions of prayers have been said for peace.

Perhaps none have been more unusual than those offered by the world’s religious leaders at Assisi, Italy, late in 1986.

What happened there? Was that meeting significant? Did the people of those religions listen and act in harmony with the prayers? Did God listen?

An Awake! correspondent in Italy analyzes these questions in the following articles.

Prayers for Peace​—Who Listens to Them?

WHAT was an American Indian, in fully feathered headdress, doing on the same platform as a Greek Orthodox priest? Why was the Buddhist Dalai Lama seated along with the Archbishop of Canterbury? What could a Jewish rabbi have in common with a metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church? And why would Pope John Paul II of the Catholic Church be presiding at such a gathering?

Not long ago it would have been unthinkable for the pope to share a prayer platform with leaders of the other major religions. Yet, in late 1986, in the Italian city of Assisi, he joined with all these other religions in celebrating the “World Day of Prayer for Peace.” The gathering was promoted by the pope in harmony with the United Nations’ designation of 1986 as the International Year of Peace.

At Assisi, there were varied prayers for peace. But who listened to them? The Trinitarian God of Christendom? Or the God of the Jews? Allah of the Muslims? The Great Thumb and Roaring Thunder of the animists? Did any of these gods listen to these prayers? Now that some time has passed since Assisi, the answers are evident.

What Took Place

The prayers of those religious leaders were the culmination of the international day of prayer held at Assisi in central Italy on October 27. A large platform had been erected, with the word “PEACE” in 14 languages on the backdrop. Arranged in a wide semicircle, with the pope at the center, more than 60 leaders of the major religions took turns praying from a rostrum. Television cameras covered the ceremony that is said to have been watched by 500 million people throughout the world.

The first ones to pray were the Buddhists, who asked for “an ocean of happiness and joy.” Then the Hindus invoked “peace unto all beings.” The Muslims prayed: “Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe.”

“Grant us peace,” was the supplication of the African animists as they invoked their divinities. “We offer the Pipe to the Great Spirit, to Mother Earth,” said the American Indians as they smoked the peace pipe. “Give peace to the earth,” asked the Jews.

“In peace and unity let us beseech our Lord God,” was the prayer of the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Greek Orthodox representatives. The Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Shintoists, and Jains also prayed for universal peace.

Occasion Given Prominence

It was the first time, the press commented, that such high-ranking clergy of the world’s religions had assembled in the same place to pray. For this reason the meeting has been termed a “historic occasion.”

Some believed that Bible prophecy was fulfilled there. Since Assisi is situated on a hill, they considered it the symbolic mount of Micah chapter 4, verse 2. A report said that the Assisi gathering was “a meeting that the prophet Micah had predicted 2,700 years ago: ‘In the [time of the] end the mount where the temple of the Lord stands will be the highest one . . . All peoples will gather at its foot and will say: Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. He will teach us what we must do.’”​—Voce delle Contrade.

The journal Il Sabato enthusiastically said: “It is the first time anything of its kind has occurred since the Tower of Babel. Then, because of their desire to reach the heavens, men were divided. Today, in the name of religious sentiments that open them up to the gift of God, peace, men are united.”

Serious Questions Raised

The event was no doubt spectacular. However, it raised legitimate questions. The daily La Nazione asked: “Did that message serve its purpose? Will it have reached the hearts of the half a billion viewers? Will it have made a breach in the rocky positions of those who, directly or indirectly, determine and direct the events and the destiny of the world?”

Thinking people ask other penetrating questions: Does God accept all prayers regardless of the type of worship practiced? Is it enough to pray for something without making sure of God’s view on the matter? Have people been induced by this meeting to work for peace? What does the past teach us? And above all, what do the Scriptures say about how world peace will be achieved?

We must also ask: Was the gathering of this world’s religions at Assisi in reality a modern-day Tower of Babel?

A Modern Tower of Babel?

THE ancient Tower of Babel has become a symbol of confusion and division. It was there, some 4,000 years ago, that God confused the language of the people. Why? Because of their rebellion against him. They rejected obedience to God and instead centered their lives on the schemes of imperfect men. So God scattered them.​—Genesis 11:1-9.

Was what happened at Assisi so different? Were men properly reunited there? Did the religious leaders of over two billion people really promote world peace?

Was There Unity?

In an address given only a few days before, the pope had emphasized: “What will take place at Assisi will certainly not be religious syncretism [uniting].” He added: “We cannot pray together, that is, join together in common prayer, but we can be present while others pray.”

Thus the pope indicated that the criterion observed in praying for peace was that of coming together to pray, not that of praying together. Some observed that he wanted to avoid participating in a common prayer. In this way he would not be accused by Catholics of mixing the various religious beliefs.

This is borne out by the pope’s welcoming address to the religious leaders that morning. He emphatically pointed out: “The fact that we have come here does not imply any intention of seeking a religious consensus among ourselves or of negotiating our faith. Neither does it mean that religions can be reconciled at the level of a common commitment in an earthly project that would surpass all of them.”

Certainly, then, there would be no effort to reconcile the many differences in religious teachings represented by those gathered at Assisi. Religious unity would therefore be impossible. The confusion of ‘religious tongues’ would continue. Hence, there is indeed a striking similarity to the ancient Tower of Babel.

This religious disunity is evident in a sampling of beliefs. For example, Buddhism does not accept the existence of a personal God, teaching that the final goal of man is Nirvana, a state of absolute blessedness achieved through the extinction of the self. The Hindus believe in millions of gods and in a continuous cycle of reincarnations that can lead to Nirvana. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant religions believe in a Trinity. But Muslims believe that there is one God, Allah, and that Muhammad is his prophet; however, they do not believe that God has a son. The Jews worship one God but do not accept Jesus as the Messiah. African religions believe that plants, animals, and inanimate objects have a spirit. The American Indians worship the forces of nature.

However, true peace implies at least a basic coming together, or uniting, of different peoples. But the religions that met at Assisi were so pitifully divided that they could not even agree on a common prayer! Surely, God cannot approve of all these conflicting ideas because, wrote the apostle Paul, “God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.”​—1 Corinthians 14:33.

Is God Listening?

How can the only true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, listen favorably to the prayers of religious leaders who have no intention of working for true unity? God’s own inspired Word states clearly that those who practice true worship “should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among [them], but that [they] may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.”​—1 Corinthians 1:10.

If God listened to these divided religions, he would be contradicting himself. It would indicate his approval of what he condemns​—division. But the God of truth cannot be guilty of a double standard. He will not contradict his own Word, for “God . . . cannot lie.” (Titus 1:2) Hence, he does not listen favorably to the prayers of such divided worship.

The Bible clearly shows that God approves only worship that is in harmony with his will. Jesus said: “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.” He also said that God is “looking for,” that is, he approves of and only listens to those who worship him “with spirit and truth.” That is done by observing his Word and obeying his commandments. So God disapproves of religions that do not do his will, just as he disapproved of the builders of the Tower of Babel, who also were not doing his will. He rejects such ones. As Jesus said to those who do their own will instead of God’s will: “Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.”​—Matthew 7:21-23; John 4:23, 24.

Thus, the spiritual condition of the religions that met at Assisi is the opposite of what God requires of true worshipers. Instead of being united in the same mind and thought, they are shredded by disunity, just as prevailed at the Tower of Babel.

The fact that God does not listen favorably to the prayers of this world’s Babel-like religions becomes more obvious when we examine the testimony of history. What kind of picture does that testimony present?

[Picture on page 6]

A Babylonian temple tower

‘Your Hands Are Full of Blood’

“EVEN though you make many prayers, I am not listening; with bloodshed your very hands have become filled.” Thus said almighty God to those who professed to serve him but who were involved in shedding innocent blood.​—Isaiah 1:15.

Are this world’s religions guilty of shedding innocent blood? Yes, they certainly are. In every war of our 20th century, the religions of this world and their clergy have supported the bloodshed. This has even led to members of the same religion killing one another on a mass scale.

Yet, Jesus taught his followers to ‘return their sword to its place.’ (Matthew 26:52) The apostle Paul stated: “The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly.” (2 Corinthians 10:4) The powerful message of God’s Word is that those who practice true religion must love one another and not shed blood: “The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should have love for one another; not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother.”​—1 John 3:10-12.

If a religion does not practice this kind of love, its prayers will not be heard by God. The Bible says: “Whatever we ask we receive from him, because we are observing his commandments and are doing the things that are pleasing in his eyes.” (1 John 3:22) But this world’s religions have not observed God’s commandments. Instead, they have weakly gone along with the slaughtering of some one hundred million people in the wars of this century alone!

Will Leaders and People Listen?

In his concluding speech at Assisi, John Paul II said: “We invite the world leaders to take notice of our humble imploration to God for peace.” Will the political leaders and their people in general listen to this appeal? To find out let us look to history.

History reveals that treaties and prayers for peace are nothing new. In the Middle Ages, treaties for peace were often called God’s truces or holy truces. They were proclaimed at Christendom’s religious festivals, during which all conflicts were to cease. But not even the threat of excommunication for those who violated the truces was enough to make men respect them.

In the year 1915, Pope Benedict XV launched an appeal to the nations to put an end to the “horrendous slaughter” of the first world war. He prayed to God for “the cessation of the wicked scourge.” But neither the national leaders nor their people listened. And, logically, God did not listen because the combatants on both sides were made up of members of the same religion. Thus, Catholic killed Catholic, and Protestant killed Protestant, completely contrary to God’s commandments.

In the spring of 1939, when the storm clouds of the second world war were gathering, Pius XII organized “a crusade of public prayers for peace.” The following August, just before the war broke out, he launched an appeal to national leaders and their people to desist from “the accusations, the threats, the causes for mutual distrust” so as to avoid the worst.

But all those prayers and appeals did not halt the war machine of Catholic and Protestant Germany; nor did they indicate the way to peace for Catholic Italy or for Shintoist Japan. And no excommunication was threatened against members of any religion for killing others of the same religion. So the slaughter of brother by brother went on for six years, backed by the clergy of every nation.

In response to the pope’s appeal at Assisi, in some places fighting halted on October 27, 1986. But in other countries it continued. In many instances this was in lands the religion of which was represented at Assisi. For example, the Catholic guerrilla fighters of the IRA launched a bomb attack in Ireland. The Sikhs fought in India. In Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq, as well as other areas, the bloodshed also continued. And even where the truce was observed for that one day, death and terror were sown again the very next day. A strange peace indeed!

Could “the God of peace” bless such initiatives that indirectly approve of those who today stop killing only to begin again tomorrow? Did God approve of Cain after he killed Abel? Surely not!​—Hebrews 13:20.

Not a Force for Peace

Recent surveys carried out in various nations indicate that a large number of people consider the religions of the world to be fomenters of war rather than promoters of peace. That is how 47 percent of the French people and 48 percent of Israelis feel.

John Taylor, secretary-general of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, said in the French Catholic monthly L’Actualité Religieuse dans le Monde: “We deceived ourselves into thinking that religion could and would bring light and charity to conflicts, and that we would greatly benefit from the uniting of forces against war, against armaments. But when examining these problems, we gradually realized that wars are not caused by armaments, but by hatreds and divisions among men . . . And here also religion has played its part.”

Historian Ernesto Galli Della Loggia, in the Catholic daily Avvenire, said even more pointedly: “Religion does not seem to have constructed a unifying framework among men and among peoples, rather the exact opposite. It has been that way for centuries. Not only have the greatest monotheistic religions fought against one another in a war without quarter but some of them​—chiefly Christianity and Islam—​have dedicated all their strength to exterminating the animist religions of the so-called primitive peoples. This has occurred because religion and political power are two sides of the same coin.”

For this and other reasons, governments either ignore religious leaders or tolerate them as if they were a necessary nuisance. And worldly religion itself is simply a veneer that has little or no beneficial effect on man or on world conditions.

At the conclusion of the day of prayer, the pope himself admitted Catholicism’s responsibility in all this bloodshed. He said: “I am ready to acknowledge that Catholics have not always been faithful to this affirmation of faith.” And then he added: “We have not always been ‘peacemakers.’ For us, therefore, but also perhaps, in a sense, for all, this encounter at Assisi is an act of penance.”

But has modern-day religion demonstrated by its actions that it has a changed attitude toward war? Is it really repentant of its dishonorable past? Speaking of present wars, Ernesto Galli Della Loggia pointed out: “Nine times out of ten these conflicts are also, if not above all, religious conflicts.”

The prayers for peace have thus been useless. Neither the political leaders nor the people are listening to them and acting in harmony with them; and neither is God, for he has said: “Even though you make many prayers, I am not listening; with bloodshed your very hands have become filled.” (Isaiah 1:15) That is why the 1986 International Year of Peace promoted by the United Nations and backed by the prayers of this world’s religions was such a failure.

[Box on page 10]

A Survey in Italy

Awake! magazine carried out a survey in various Italian cities, during which hundreds of people were interviewed, the majority Catholic. When asked whether initiatives such as the Assisi day of prayer for peace and cease-fires will help to eliminate wars and armaments, 70 percent said no, 17 percent said that it was just the first step, and only 10 percent thought it was a positive thing to do.

A priest from the northern Italian city of Bergamo said: “I think the initiative will be very useful as long as its message is carried forward. It’s a good start that must not be isolated.”

But a young Catholic woman from the same area said: “One cannot help being profoundly struck by the hypocrisy of people who have been fighting for years, also for religious reasons, and who then lay down their arms and pray for world peace, knowing full well that the next day they will carry on fighting.” And a youth from Brescia said: “Meetings like these do not help in combating religious indifference. The churches should be less interested in politics if they want God to listen to them.”

In answer to the question, “What should religion do to contribute more effectively to peace?” a Catholic from Turin said that “they should dissociate themselves from all temporal complicity and teach men to live without weapons.” A young Catholic woman from Cremona stated: “The church should have set a good example by not getting involved in wars and politics. But now it’s too late.”

On being asked, “What do you think of the pope’s peace initiative?” a lawyer from the province of Pesaro replied: “The church is using the problem of peace to its own advantage to propagandize Catholicism in the world.” An 84-year-old Catholic lady said: “It’s no use. If they want a war, they’re going to start one anyway.”

Speaking of religion’s “political designs,” the Milan publication Il Corriere della Sera made this significant comment: “The Church takes advantage of pacifism and promotes initiatives that allow her to control, rather than be subjected to, the debates of public opinion on the major political questions of the hour.”

[Pictures on page 8, 9]

Prayers were offered by people from all over the world

Many young people are interested in world peace