I.
It is a special joy for me that the International Peace Meeting of Religions and Cultures is taking place in Berlin this year. For 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, I was the Protestant bishop of this city. Perhaps it is surprising for some of you that in Berlin the largest group of believers are the Protestant Christians, so that as a Protestant bishop I was the leading clergyman of the largest religious community in this city. Berlin has traditionally been Protestant since the time of the Reformation, and until a good 100 years ago the Prussian king was even the Protestant bishop at the same time.
I have felt connected with the Community of Sant'Egidio since the beginning of my episcopate: I am convinced by the spiritual strength, the peace and reconciliation work of the Community, the courage and hope that Sant' Egidio radiates. I have participated in many peace meetings in European capitals. And now I am very happy that the 2023 meeting takes place in Berlin.
It is a great merit of the community that it cultivates the legacy of Pope John Paul II's Assisi Peace Prayer with the annual peace conferences. For John Paul had recognized with great foresight in 1986 what is at stake today: the religions must unite to serve peace. Behind this was the realization that religions do not naturally serve peace. They can also be misused. Then they divide, deepen the antagonisms of cultures, fuel harmful nationalism, and legitimize hatred. Because religion is ambivalent, religions must encourage, instigate, and motivate each other to make their spiritual forces of reconciliation and peace strong. It was therefore a very special event when the text "Human Fraternity" was signed by Grand Imam Al Tayeb and Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi in 2019: All people are brothers and sisters before God! I think the world has not yet understood how significant this text is for the future
II.
Here in Berlin, the question of what effects religions have is discussed publicly and controversially. The majority of people in Berlin tend to be skeptical about people who live their religion consciously and publicly. Religion is suspected of causing discord rather than reconciliation. This is particularly clear from an example:
There is a law in Berlin, the "neutrality law". It prohibits teachers from wearing religious signs unless they are religious teachers. According to this law, a Muslim teacher may not wear a headscarf in class; a Jewish teacher may not wear a kippah; a Christian teacher may not wear a cross. A Muslim teacher took legal action against this before the Constitutional Court and was proven right. According to the ruling of Germany's highest court, wearing a headscarf cannot be banned across the board. A ban may only be imposed if it can be proven that wearing a headscarf endangers the peace of the school. The situation is currently like this here in Berlin: The law is still in force, but it is not being applied consistently. - This example shows that people who live religiously are under observation: Am I, even if I wear a cross, really tolerant, peaceful, neutral towards all people? Or am I not covertly intolerant and endangering peace because I elevate myself above other religions and cultures?
This example makes clear how ambivalently the power of religion is perceived here in Berlin.
III.
In this situation, the dialogue of religions is eminently important! People who see themselves as religious, who are rooted in their faith and find in it the meaning, the strength and the orientation for their lives, must show that their spirituality is a force for peace. They must publicly exemplify how they engage in discourse with one another, respect one another, and contribute together to solving social problems. Here, too, I cite some examples:
One is the service of mourning and remembrance that we celebrated the day after the terrorist attack on the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz on December 19, 2016. Within just one day, we prepared this TV-service together with Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters to show very clearly: We stand together against hate and violence! This was very important in order not to leave the field to those who want to set religions and cultures against each other. Interfaith services at public events are part of the social life of Berlin.
The second example is the House of One. In Berlin, a house is being built for the three major monotheistic religions: Jews, Christians and Muslims. There will be three spiritual spaces where the religions can celebrate their own traditions unmixed. And there will be a space where there can be events, meetings, exhibitions, seminars and much more. Here it will be shown publicly what the coexistence of religions can achieve.
As a third example, I would like to mention an impressive conversation I was able to have on a trip to northern Iraq in March of this year: I spoke there with a Christian bishop who had completed his doctorate on the religion of the Yezidis and had gained a deep understanding of this peaceful religion. He is now very committed as a Christian to working together with the Yezidis for a society that protects religious minorities. Mutual understanding is a force for peace!
I believe that all religions today face the task of discovering, living and demonstrating their capacity for peace, their power of reconciliation, their ethical orientation to the dignity of the human being. We will have to face all this much more clearly than before. The fundamental skepticism about the impact of religion is not unique to Berlin; it exists in many places around the world. Religions are being put to the test. They have to show what they can do for peace.
So why is interreligious dialogue an asset for peace? Interreligious dialogue releases motivational power to work for peace. And it shows that peace is possible because people are willing to get to know and respect each other's convictions and to respect their neighbors as brothers and sisters before God, even if he or she has a different religious conviction. In this way, religious defamation can be prevented from turning into hatred, and hatred can be prevented from turning into violence.
When Grand Imam Al Tayeb from Cairo visited Berlin in 2017, the year of the Reformation anniversary, I met with him for a talk. He said, "We - and he meant Muslims - need you to fight against the misuse of our religion for hatred and violence. We can only win this fight together." And this is just as true the other way around: we Christians need you, the Muslims, the Jews, the other religions, so that we can strengthen each other in dialogue and together use our positive spiritual forces against the peacelessness of our world.