POPE'S MESSAGE FOR 2009 WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

"The Witness of Charity Is Part of the Very Life of Every Christian Community"


VATICAN CITY, FEB. 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's message for the 17th World Day of the Sick, which was celebrated Wednesday on the diocesan level.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The World Day of the Sick, which will be celebrated next 11 February, the liturgical Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, will see the diocesan communities gathering with their Bishops at prayer meetings in order to reflect and decide on initiatives of sensitization concerning the reality of suffering.

The Pauline Year that we are celebrating is a favorable opportunity to pause and meditate with the Apostle Paul on the fact that "as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too" (2 Corinthians 1:5).

The spiritual connection with Lourdes also calls to mind the motherly concern of the Mother of Jesus for the brethren of her Son, "who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home" ("Lumen Gentium," No. 62).

This year our attention focuses in particular on children, the weakest and most defenseless creatures, and on those of them who are sick and suffering. There are tiny human beings who bear in their bodies the consequences of incapacitating diseases, and others who are fighting illnesses that are still incurable today, despite the progress of medicine and the assistance of qualified researchers and health-care professionals.

There are children injured in body and in mind, subsequent to conflicts and wars, and other innocent victims of the insensate hatred of adults. There are "street" children, who are deprived of the warmth of a family and left to themselves, and minors defiled by degenerate people who violate their innocence, causing them psychological damage that will mark them for the rest of their lives.

Then we cannot forget the incalculable number of minors who die of thirst, hunger and the lack of medical help, as well as the small exiles and refugees who flee from their countries together with their parents in search of a better life. A silent cry of pain rises from all these children which questions our consciences as human beings and believers.

The Christian community, which cannot remain indifferent to such tragic situations, feels the impelling duty to intervene. Indeed, as I wrote in the Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est," the Church "is God's family in the world. In this family no one ought to go without the necessities of life" (No. 25,b).

I therefore hope that the World Day of the Sick will offer the parish and diocesan communities an opportunity to be ever more aware that they are the "family of God" and will encourage them to make the love of the Lord, who asks that "within the ecclesial family no member should suffer through being in need", visible in villages, neighborhoods and cities (ibid).

The witness of charity is part of the very life of every Christian community. And from the outset the Church has expressed the Gospel principles in practical gestures, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles.

Today, given the changed conditions of health-care assistance, people are feeling the need for closer collaboration between health-care professionals who work in the various health-care institutions and the ecclesial communities present in the territory. In this perspective the value of an institution linked to the Holy See such as the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital this year celebrating its 140th anniversary is confirmed in every way.

But this is not all. Since the sick child belongs to a family that frequently shares in his or her suffering with serious hardship and difficulties, Christian communities cannot but also feel duty-bound to help families afflicted by the illness of a son or daughter.

After the example of the "Good Samaritan", it is necessary to bend over the people so harshly tried and offer them the support of their concrete solidarity.

In this way the acceptance and sharing of suffering is expressed in the practical support of sick children's families, creating in them an atmosphere of serenity and hope and making them feel that they are in the midst of a larger family of brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus' compassion for the widow of Nain (cf. Luke 7:12-17) and for Jairus' supplication (cf. Luke 8:41-56) constitute, among others, useful reference points for learning to share in the moments of physical and moral suffering of the many sorely tried families.

All this implies disinterested and generous love, a reflection and a sign of the merciful love of God who never abandons his children in trial but always provides them anew with wonderful resources of heart and mind to equip them to face life's difficulties adequately.

The daily devotion and continuous commitment to serving sick children is an eloquent testimony of love for human life, particularly for the life of those who are weak and dependant on others in all things and for all things.

In fact, it is necessary to assert vigorously the absolute and supreme dignity of every human life. The teaching that the Church ceaselessly proclaims does not change with the passing of time: Human life is beautiful and should be lived to the full, even when it is weak and enveloped in the mystery of suffering.

We must turn our gaze to the Crucified Jesus: in dying on the Cross he wished to share in the suffering of all humanity. We may discern in his suffering for love a supreme sharing in the plight of little ones who are ill and of their parents.

My venerable Predecessor John Paul II who offered a shining example of patient acceptance of suffering, particularly towards the end of his life, wrote: "On this Cross is the "Redeemer of man', the Man of Sorrows, who has taken upon himself the physical and moral sufferings of the people of all times, so that in love they may find the salvific meaning of their sorrow and valid answers to all of their questions" ("Salvifici Doloris," No. 31).

I would like here to express my appreciation and encouragement to the international and national organizations which care for sick children, especially in the poor countries, and which with generosity and abnegation make their contribution to assuring them adequate and loving care.

At the same time, I address a heartfelt appeal to the leaders of nations that they will strengthen the laws and provisions for sick children and their families. For her part, the Church always, but especially when a child's life is at stake is prepared to offer cordial collaboration with the intention of transforming the whole human civilization into a "civilization of love" ("Salvifici Doloris," No. 30).

To conclude, I would like to express my spiritual closeness to all of you, dear brothers and sisters who are suffering from an illness. I address an affectionate greeting to all those who assist you: the Bishops, priests, consecrated people, health-care workers, volunteers and all who devote themselves lovingly to treating and alleviating the sufferings of those who are grappling with illness.

Here is a special greeting for you, dear sick and suffering children: the Pope embraces you with fatherly affection together with your parents and relatives, and assures you of his special remembrance in prayer, as he asks you to trust in the maternal help of the Immaculate Virgin Mary who last Christmas we once again contemplated joyfully holding in her arms the Son of God who became a Child. As I invoke upon you and upon every sick person the motherly protection of the Blessed Virgin, Health of the Sick, I cordially impart to all a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 2 February 2009

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

ZE09021501 - 2009-02-15
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25096?l=english

Read more...

VATICAN: MIGRANTS ARE FAMILY

Archbishop Marchetto Says All Are Equals

By Roberta Sciamplicotti

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The starting point for addressing the problem of migration is recognizing the unity of the human family, says the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers.

Archbishop Agostino Marchetto said this Friday in Rome at a symposium on the theme "Human Dignity and Human Rights in the Time of Globalization," sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in cooperation with the Community Sant'Egidio.

The archbishop began his talk, titled "Human Rights and the Dignity of Migrants in the Age of Globalization," by observing that migration "constitutes one of the most complex challenges of our globalized world."

"The human and ecclesial starting points," he said, are "the affirmation of equality among persons -- completely beyond questions of ethnicity, language and origin -- and the unity of the human family."

The archbishop explained that this is why the Church is "extremely attentive" to the welcoming and pastoral care of migrants, not forgetting that the phenomenon of migration also carries with it "a complex mix of duties and rights, the first of which is the right to migratory relocation."

The right of governments to handle migration must, for its part, he continued, "provide clear and viable measures for regular entrance into the country, oversee the labor market to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers, enact measures for regular integration, combat xenophobic behavior, and promote the social, cultural and religious coexistence that every pluralistic society demands."

The archbishop said the government must also "correspond to its duty/right to guarantee lawfulness, punish criminal behavior and delinquency and deal with people in irregular situations," but always doing so "with respect for human dignity, human rights and international agreements."

Global approach

Archbishop Marchetto explained that the safeguarding of human dignity "highlights the necessity of a specific pastoral care for first and second generation migrants" that should consider "respect for the use of the mother tongue in catechesis, preaching and the administration of the sacraments, attention to the particular demands of popular piety, and the assignment of expressly designated missionaries."

The pastoral structures, he added, must "guarantee a progressive process of active integration into the local Church, that overcomes, on the one hand, the temptations of 'religious colonization' and total assimilation, and avoids, on the other hand, the formation of a ghetto."

Along with pastoral care, Archbishop Marchetto continued, "adequate social, civil and political interventions must not be lacking."

The prelate said migration "almost obliges us to put the human person at the center for the sake of a profitable development of the whole family of peoples and nations, urging priorities and precise criteria for intervention."

Dialogue

Archbishop Marchetto stressed that there is a need to "improve society's level of 'humanism,' renewing the culture and education in its many ramifications." From this perspective the knowledge of various ethnic groups and their cultures is seen as "an obligatory step that should be inserted into educational programs and catechesis."

The structures for the pastoral care of migrants, Archbishop Marchetto pointed out, "need to value occasions of meeting and dialogue, that can help to improve interpersonal relations and also favor a more complete and convinced witness to the evangelical message."

Toward this end it is necessary to emphasize "formation, especially of young people, but also of leaders of groups and communities."

"What is urgent today and is the secret of the future is dialogue between persons, communities, peoples, cultures, religions and ethnic groups because closure and intolerance come from making ourselves and our own group into idols," he added.

"To have a positive and lasting effect," Archbishop Marchetto concluded, "globalization must be founded on a vision of the human person that responds to Christian criteria that are profoundly human, totally beyond materialist and atheist ideologies, which are wedded to relativism, and in the end relativize the fundamental dignity of every human person."


ZE09021505 - 2009-02-15
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25100?l=english

Read more...

CARDINAL: VATICAN CITY IS SMALL BUT GREAT

Congress Marks 80 Years of Lateran Pacts

By Carmen Elena Villa

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 13, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Despite its small size, Vatican City State is great in other aspects, according to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Benedict XVI's secretary of state said Thursday at the opening of the congress "A Small Territory for a Great Mission," held in Rome's Lateran palace, that the Vatican is "small but great; the greatest in the world from any point of view."

The event, organized by the Governorate of the Holy See, marks the 80th anniversary of the Feb. 11, 1929, accords that recognized the independence and sovereignty of the Holy See, created the Vatican City State, and defined the civil and religious relationship between the government and the Church in Italy.

The congress will end Saturday with an audience with the Pope.

Cardinal Bertone said the anniversary "is an appropriate moment to recall the lofty objective of its existence and action, to evaluate how this objective has been applied in the course of the past eight decades, and to attempt to intuit the future modalities that the state's mission might assume."

On reviewing the history of Vatican State, the cardinal recalled in particular the work of Pope Pius XI: "This great Pontiff is the real creator and founder of Vatican City State."

The signing of the Lateran Pacts put an end to the so-called "Roman question" that began in 1870 when Italy invaded and took possession of Church properties.

Cardinal Bertone referred to Pius XI, saying that Vatican State "is, in fact, the result of his tenacity, realism, culture and clairvoyance, demonstrated on so many other occasions and in face of many serious problems that marked the Church and society during his pontificate.

World War II

The secretary of state also reviewed the main historical events the small nation has addressed since its birth, the first being the Second World War (1939-1945).

He noted that during the war the Holy See carried out "an intense action to promote peace and charity, but with notable limitations."

"Let us reflect on the fact that diplomats accredited to the Holy See of countries at war with Italy had to leave Rome and that the ecclesial, diplomatic and charitable action of the Holy See was conditioned by the control of the Italian state," noted the cardinal.

The cardinal also pointed to the works of charity that Pius XII was able to carry out in Europe during the war, which offered aid and help to put into contact "those whom the war had separated."

Cardinal Bertone noted that Rome was under German occupation from September 1943 to June 1944: "Vatican City State was surrounded by a political-military power, the German Reich, with which the Holy See had not a few open conflicts."

The cardinal also mentioned the places of refuge that served to shelter many victims during World War II: the Lateran's Major Pontifical Seminary, the Abbey of St. Paul Outside the Walls, and the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo, as well as monasteries, convents, institutes and parishes of Rome.

He also mentioned the important events that have taken place in Vatican State during its 80-year history: The Second Vatican Council, the synods of bishops, the celebrations of the jubilee years, especially the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

Cardinal Bertone noted in a special way the funeral of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI, "which brought to Rome the top political authorities of the world and massive crowds."

ZE09021308 - 2009-02-13
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25091?l=english
Read more...

BENEDICT XVI LAUDS PIUS XI'S OPPOSITION TO NAZISM

Affectionately Recalls the "Pope of His Childhood"

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is recognizing Pope Pius XI's work in opposition of Nazism and totalitarianism in the 1930s.
The German Pope recalled the papacy of Achille Ratti (1922-1939) in an address Saturday on the 80th anniversary of the creation of Vatican City State.

He acknowledged Pope Pius XI as "the first and main architect and protagonist of the Lateran Pacts," which led to the birth of the Vatican state. At this moment, the Holy See was given sovereignty over this small piece of land, ensuring the pope's governance of the Church outside of the taxation policies of Italy, which was then ruled by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini.

Benedict XVI recalled "the Pope of my childhood, whom we looked upon with so much veneration and love."

He continued: "Precisely in these days his name has resonated on several occasions, as with the lucidity of a lofty outlook and indomitable will he was the real founder and first builder of Vatican City State.

"Moreover, the historical studies on his pontificate, which continue to take place, make us perceive increasingly the greatness of Pope Ratti, who guided the Church in the difficult years between the two World Wars."

The Holy Father acknowledged how his predecessor "stimulated ecclesial action in its many dimensions: Let us recall the missionary expansion, attention to the formation of God's ministers, promotion of the activity of the lay faithful in the Church and in society, and the intense relationship with the civil community."

He added: "During his pontificate, the 'librarian Pope' had to address the difficulties and persecutions that the Church was suffering in countries such as Mexico and Spain, and the confrontations triggered by totalitarianism -- national socialism and fascism -- which arose and were consolidated in those years.

"In Germany, his great encyclical 'Mit Brennender Sorge' has not been forgotten, as a strong sign against Nazism." The encyclical's impact was so evident that Adolf Hitler ordered Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Gestapo, to seize and destroy all copies.

Benedict XVI asserted: "The wise and strong work of this Pontiff truly awakens admiration, who only wished for the Church the freedom that would allow her to carry out her mission integrally.

"Vatican City State […] was also considered by Pius XI as an instrument to guarantee the necessary independence from all human authority, to give the Church and her supreme Pastor the possibility to fully comply with the mandate received from Christ the Lord.

The usefulness and benefit of this small but complete reality for the Holy See, for the Church, as well as for Rome and the whole world, was seen just 10 years later, when World War II broke out, a war whose violence and sufferings reached the doors of the Vatican."


ZE09021606 - 2009-02-16
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25109?l=english
Read more...

Public policies must reflect ethical values, pope says

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ethical values can and must inform government policies for the good of a nation's own citizens and for the good of the world, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Welcoming Timothy Fischer as Australia's new ambassador to the Vatican Feb. 12, Pope Benedict first offered his condolences for the February bush fires that left more than 180 people dead in Victoria state.

The pope also praised the way Australia values cultural diversity, is working to address historic discrimination against the Aboriginal peoples, facilitates interreligious dialogue, promotes peace throughout the Pacific region and Asia, and defends the environment.

"I note with interest the Australian government's determination to establish relations of cooperation based on the values of fairness, good governance and the sense of a regional neighborhood," the pope said.

"A genuinely ethical stance is at the heart of every responsible, respectful and socially inclusive development policy," he said.

Ethics make responses to poverty more compassionate and generous, the pope said. And an ethical approach makes governments of the most developed nations see how excessive measures to protect their own industries locks producers in poor countries out of the global market, he said.

In providing health care around the world, the Catholic Church places ethical concerns and the good of the person at the heart of its policies, the pope said.

"Of particular concern is the provision of medical care for families, including high-quality obstetrical care for women," Pope Benedict said.

"How ironic it is, however, when some groups, through aid programs, promote abortion as a form of 'maternal' health care: taking a life, purportedly to improve the quality of life," the pope said.

Pope Benedict praised the Australian government's efforts to respond in an ethical way to the challenge of the global financial crisis and to "the menacing threats to God's creation" caused by global warming and environmental damage.

"Perhaps more than ever before in our human history the fundamental relationship among the Creator, creation and creature needs to be pondered and respected," he said. "From this recognition we can discover a common code of ethics, consisting of norms rooted in the natural law inscribed by the Creator on the heart of every human being."

END


POPE-AUSTRALIA Feb-12-2009 (370 words) xxxi
Read more...

Pope says Holocaust denial is 'intolerable ... unacceptable'

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Denying or minimizing the Holocaust "is intolerable and altogether unacceptable," Pope Benedict XVI told a group of U.S. Jewish leaders.

"This terrible chapter in our history must never be forgotten," the pope said during a Feb. 12 meeting at the Vatican with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

The papal audience came less than three weeks after the Vatican announced the pope had lifted the excommunication of several traditionalist bishops, including Bishop Richard Williamson, who has said reports about the Nazi slaughter of the Jews have been exaggerated and who claimed no Jews died in Nazi gas chambers.

The Vatican later published a statement saying that Bishop Williamson would not be welcomed into full communion with the church unless he disavowed his remarks and publicly apologized.

While the pope publicly reaffirmed his recognition of the Holocaust and expressed his respect and esteem for the Jewish people in late January, the February audience was the first time since the Bishop Williamson scandal that the pope met with Jewish leaders to express his feelings and beliefs personally.

Telling the Jewish leaders he wanted to make his own a prayer by Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict prayed, "God of our fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your name to the nations: We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer and, asking your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant."

The prayer was the text of the note Pope John Paul left in Jerusalem's Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites, during a March 2000 visit.

Pope Benedict also told the Jewish leaders about his own visit to the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp in 2006.

"As I walked through the entrance to that place of horror, the scene of such untold suffering, I meditated on the countless number of prisoners, so many of them Jews, who had trodden that same path into captivity at Auschwitz and in all the other prison camps," the pope said.

"How can we begin to grasp the enormity of what took place in those infamous prisons?" he asked.

The pope told the leaders, "The hatred and contempt for men, women and children that was manifested in the Shoah was a crime against God and against humanity.

"This should be clear to everyone," the pope said.

"It is beyond question that any denial or minimization of this terrible crime is intolerable and altogether unacceptable," Pope Benedict said.

The German-born pope repeated what he had said during his visit to Auschwitz: "The rulers of the Third Reich wanted to crush the entire Jewish people, to cancel it from the register of the peoples of the earth. Thus the words of the psalm, 'We are being killed, accounted as sheep for the slaughter,' were fulfilled in a terrifying way."

The pope also told the Jewish leaders that the Catholic Church "is profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism" and to build good and lasting relations with the Jewish community.

Reaffirming the importance of remembering the Holocaust, the pope said, "it is my fervent prayer that the memory of this appalling crime will strengthen our determination to heal the wounds that for too long have sullied relations between Christians and Jews."

Rabbi Arthur Schneier of New York's Park East Synagogue, which Pope Benedict visited last April, told the group it was "a trying moment in Catholic-Jewish relations" because Bishop Williamson's excommunication was lifted.

The 78-year-old Austrian-born rabbi told the pope, "As a Holocaust survivor these have been painful and difficult days when confronted with Holocaust denial by no less than a bishop."

"The Shoah claimed the lives of 6 million Jewish men, women and children, including my own family in Auschwitz and Terezin," a camp in what is now the Czech Republic, he told the pope.

Addressing the 81-year-old pope, he said, "Your Holiness, we and so many others, who have seen man's inhumanity to man, how can we but revolt at Holocaust denial?"

"In our autumn years," he told the pope, "we must transmit 'never again' through Holocaust education to future generations."

Meeting reporters after the papal audience, Rabbi Schneier said, "This is a historic day," adding that it was "so reassuring to hear the pope say what he had to say about the Shoah."

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the U.S. Jewish leaders' group, said, "We came here with heavy hearts" because of the lifting of the excommunication of Bishop Williamson.

But the leaders were pleased by the pope's reaffirmation of the principles of the Second Vatican Council regarding relations with the Jews and his condemnation of anti-Semitism and of Holocaust denial "in the strongest possible words," Hoenlein said.

But Abraham Foxman, U.S. director of the Anti-Defamation League, said "it is always significant when the pope meets with a Jewish group and his words were very important, but it did not bring closure."

While Foxman said he believes in forgiveness, he also believes that Bishop Williamson should not be considered a Catholic until he recants.

"Every moment that he stays in the church, it gives credibility to him and to his hideous beliefs," he said.

Rabbi David Rosen, director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, said the meeting was important for assuring the Jewish community that the Catholic Church and the pope personally are committed to upholding the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and its positive attitude toward the Jewish people and their faith.

"It was a very strong and, I would say, quite moving affirmation of his commitment to Catholic-Jewish reconciliation and opposition to Holocaust denial and any other form of anti-Semitism," he said.

The rabbi also said he believed the uproar surrounding Bishop Williamson could have the positive effect of ensuring uniform acceptance of Vatican II. He expressed hope that the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, to which Bishop Williamson belongs, would not be fully reintegrated into the Catholic Church without a serious investigation into the society's teaching on Jews and Judaism and its acceptance of the teachings of Vatican II, which it has opposed.

END
POPE-JEWS (UPDATED) Feb-12-2009 (1,050 words) With photos. xxxi
Read more...

Tokoh Agama Dorong Pemilu Damai

PEMILU DAMAI – Tim Pastoral Kevikepan Ende bekerja sama dengan Departemen Agama menyelenggarakan panel diskusi bagi para penyuluh lintas agama di Detusoko, Rabu (12/1). (Dari kiri ke kanan) P Paul Budi Kleden SVD, Anom B Triyadna, Romo Felix Djawa Pr, Pdt Yan Leymani, dan Basirun Samlawi.

Oleh Frans Obon

ENDE -- Tokoh dari berbagai agama dalam pertemuan mereka di aula Wisma St Fransiskus Detusoko, Rabu (11/2) mendorong terlaksananya Pemilu nasional mendatang secara damai dan mengajak masyarakat untuk memilih para calon yang akan duduk di lembaga legislatif dengan cerdas tanpa didasarkan pada unsur-unsur primordial.

Pertemuan ini digelar atas kerja sama Tim Pastoral Hubungan Antar Agama dan Kepercayaan (HAK) Kevikepan Ende dan Departemen Agama Kabupaten Ende.
Vikaris Episkopus (Vikep) Ende Romo Ambros Nanga Pr dalam sambutan penutup menjelaskan, pertemuan ini digelar sebagai bagian dari rancangan bangun hubungan yang harmonis antaragama dan terutama dalam konteks pelaksanaan Pemilu nasional mendatang.

Tim pastoral Kevikepan sendiri akan memasukkan hasil diskusi panel ini ke dalam bahan katekese politik yang tengah disusun dan dirancang tim pastoral. Pertemuan ini juga dimaksudkan sebagai bentuk kerja sama dan tanggung jawab agama-agama untuk mendorong proses demokratisasi demi mencapai cita-cita bersama.

Diskusi panel yang mengambil tema “Orientasi Penyuluh Lintas Agama Kabupaten Ende” menghadirkan empat pembicara mewakili agama masing-masing. Pater Paul Budi Kleden SVD (Katolik), Basirun Samlawi (Islam), Pdt Yan YO Leymani (Protestan) dan Anom B Triyadna (Hindu), dengan moderator Romo Felix Djawa Pr.

Vikjen Keuskupan Agung Ende P Yosef Seran SVD, Direktur Pusat Pastoral Keuskupan Agung Ende Romo Cyrilus Lena Pr, Ketua Tim HAK Kevikepan Ende Frans Tasso Ve, Kakandepag Agustinus T Gempa dan utusan dari berbagai agama hadir dalam pertemuan ini.

“Basirun Samlawi yang bicara pertama menegaskan kebersamaan umat beragama akan menjadi satu kekuatan jika bersama-sama umat berabagai agama membangun komitmen bersama untuk menyelesaikan berbagai persoalan dengan cara santun dan damai. Demokrasi mengakibatkan adanya perbedaan kepentingan, tetapi konflik kepentingan yang terjadi mesti diselesaikan secara demokratis dan secara santun.

“Hindari pencederaan demokrasi dengan kekerasan, anarkisme, ekstrimisme, sebaliknya mesti ada kesantunan dalam ruang publik demokratis,” katanya.

Sementara Pdt Yan bicara soal potensi konflik di dalam pemilu. Konflik yang dipicu oleh kepentingan, oleh suku dan agama. Namun dia percaya bahwa demokrasi akan memberi ruang bagi penyelesaian damai.

Dia mengkritik pendekatan yang dilakukan para calon, yang baru datang hidup bersama masyarakat menjelang Pemilu. Dia juga menekankan pentingnya memperhatikan etika dan moralitas politik dalam pencapaian tujuan berpolitik.

“Ada calon yang tidak datang dan hidup bersama masyarakat. Karena dia mengandalkan kekuatan lain,” katanya.

Anom Triyadna dari PHDI Kabupaten Ende juga bicara mengenai pentingnya perdamaian dalam proses pemilu mendatang. Dia mengibaratkan penggunaan hak dan kewajiban di dalam pemilu itu seperti ruas dan buku pada bambu di mana antara hak dan kewajiban selalu bertemu dan sambung menyambung.

Pater Budi Kleden yang bicara perspektif Katolik menegaskan lagi prinsip-prinsip politik di dalam Gereja Katolik. Dosen Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Katolik Ledalero ini mengatakan, Pemilu adalah alat kontrol warga terhadap pelaksanaan dan penyelenggaraan pemerintahan. Pemilu tidak saja sebagai legitimasi kekuasaan, melainkan alat ukur dan evaluasi terhadap pelaksanaan penyelenggaraan pemerintahan yang dipilih melalui Pemilu.

Karenya Pemilu dilihat sebagai kesempatan ditahbiskan untuk mengamankan iman, sehingga politisi Katolik dalam keterlibatan mereka dengan kegiatan politik mengemban tugas penting,” katanya.

Pemilu yang damai, kata dia, tidak hanya diukur dari keterlibatan banyak pemilih dan tidak terjadinya konflik dalam pelaksanaannya, melainkan terutama diukur dari kontribusinya pada perdamaian. Sehingga menurut dia, damai itu tidak hanya terbatas pada saat Pemilu, melainkan terutama bagaimana penyelenggaraan pemerintahan hasil pemilu tersebut menjamin perdamaian.

Ada empat komponen yang menjamin pemilu damai yakni regulasi, penyelenggara pemilu, kontestan pemilu, dan masyarakat.

Dalam diskusi yang hanya berlangsung dua sesi para peserta lebih banyak membicarakan kompetensi para calon legislatif, moralitas yang membingkai politik para calon dan kegamangan para calon dan partai terhadap ideologi partai, serta diskusi mengenai fenomena menggunakan dan tidak menggunakan hak pilih.

Dimuat pada Flores Pos, 12 Februari 2009 pp 1,15

Read more...