Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama at the opening of the 28th International Conference on Peace held in Albania on the initiative of the Community Sant’Egidio:
Dear very special friends!
Welcome in the country that Pope Francis called the country of religious brotherhood.
Although I am addressing to you in a simple way, without the ceremonial denominations required by this occasion, in order to save you time because it would be a very long ceremonial list, please be sure that all of you have my highest appreciation, not only for what you represent institutionally but also for the invaluable spiritual dimension that you convey in these difficult times we are living in, like a cure for hundreds of thousands, millions of believers, but also for all people of good will.
But I am convinced that no one would hold a grudge if I greeted in particular a shepherd of souls and people who comes for the first time in Albania and revives with his presence the resistance to the martyrdom of Iraqi people and Christians in particular.
Therefore, for the inexorable moral strength and for the memory you convey us that the Middle East of religious coexistence and of the generous Iraqi Christian religion is not dead, Monsignor Sako, the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, welcome in Tirana!
“Every tree shall be known by its fruits.” – St. Matthew reminds us.
The very vulnerable tree that was planted in Assisi 30 years ago by the world leaders of spirituality and religion around the unforgettable John-Paul II, in the spirit of a “Prayer for Peace”, has already grown its roots of hope in a world where an increasingly worrying gray color seems to be trying, often not quite unsuccessfully, to strangle and suffocate any spectrum of colors.
As theologians talk about an economy of salvation, in the vortex of human history, I don’t think it is an exaggeration to describe this initiative, which has been lasting as long as a generation of people, as the ecology of the spirit, of reason and of the life of culture.
Weather-beaten by the headwinds of the last two decades’ history, the tree planted in the fertile soil walked by Saint Francis, just for the sake of its fragility, becomes for us a milestone to move forward together despite the hardships and challenges face to the barbarism and its power of unreason, on the path of coexistence which is also the reason why we are here today altogether, not because of the example of force but because of the force of the example.
This initiative by the Sant’Egidio Community has a peculiarity that makes this 3-day Prayer for Peace here in Tirana an event that justifies our joy to have this prayer here in Albania, but which is also worth a deep reflection from all of us.
With their skills and the art of gathering together a large number of followers of different faiths, who have inherited every kind of divisiveness but who are united by the awareness of being pilgrims on the path of living in dignity, on the path of peace and reason, the volunteers, directors, the creators and the pastors of this great community are always the embodiment of a vision, but also of a method.
In fact, the vision of a peace that is always possible may seem ridiculous or even cynical to any realist or stubborn pragmatist who looks at politics and economy as the final word of the chapter of each story.
Having associated your opinion for almost 30 years with the research on the socio-political means to improve the conditions of Peace, you do not neglect the necessity of an ethical world order, but on the contrary restore it in the context within which this opinion makes sense.
The reason why the “Prayer for Peace” is different from any other event promoted by the goodwill of organizations or powerful parts of civil society is because it is never subject to the need for a new world order on fundamentals that are simply geopolitical, financial or political, no matter how sound or sustainable they may seem.
The proposal that you convey through ceaseless dialogue, sometimes to the point of exhaustion – I remember even here in Albania something of the exhausting negotiations under the goodwill spell of Sant’Egidio at a difficult time for us after the fall of the communist regime – is the effort for an ethical order which is inclusive an accepted by everyone.
This is a vision but also a method that echo and justify the urgency laying before us all, and which I would bring here better defined by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartolomew who says that “The answer to the major problems of humanity is not only economic; as such, it would be empty, without any ethical and spiritual argument.” This was his message in “Avenir de la Terre” in Paris in 2009, but today these words resound even more strongly in the face of all manifestations of pain but also of barbarism, which are events increasingly connected to our daily life.
In this view, seeing all these people, leaders and representatives of various beliefs, gathered here together, is a vindication of relativism.
The history of this country shows that opinions, beliefs, personal choices are neither equal nor equivalent among them, but they are not a reason either to see obstacles, rather the paths to a possible communication. Errors or sins cannot be as worth as much as good and the truth.
The history of Albania, embodied very well in the message of Pope Francis that we just heard, where the persecution of religions and the exclusion of God from the right to be present as an aspiration in this land bled out the country, took many innocent lives whose only sin was believing in God, destroyed a number of vivid testimonies of the temples of belief, but still they could not prevail over good and the truth that are at the foundation of every religion and every effort made in good faith in the name of God.
And here we are today in the same place in this building, which was opened to echo the most unbridled propaganda of an atheist regime, but which today has gathered together all of you as the most meaningful expression that peace is not only possible, but it is the only option that the future offers us.
If peace, reconciliation and love does not foster individual or joint prayer, then the lips that murmur it are nothing but silent bells tolling in the soul and mind. Therefore, I believe that the invitation of the holy Quran to “Accomplish prayer by doing the good and bowing down along with those who bow down” is the most open and meaningful invitation to what each of us can receive from the joint prayer.
Precisely for this reason, I am delighted that this event, as an extension towards the heavens of that tree planted in Assisi that I mentioned earlier, extends its shadow and breathing also in this land, the land of the Albanians.
And it is not a call for syncretism, but a plea for inclusiveness just because it is not a catalyst of an exclusive religious affiliation but an appeal to meet the other through mutual recognition and dialogue. In addition, beyond the people we meet here, it allows this event to convey this path of our meeting as a message to all those who love peace but who will not find it unless they look for it together with what they are fighting against.
Let me conclude by wishing you all the best and every success in this attitude of yours together in Tirana. As the history of this country has shown us, it is my great faith that no force can prevent forever God from shedding a light in the souls of people seeking peace, and who never stopped believing in Him and raising a prayer to Him in various way and forms, although some forces tried to prevent them for a certain period of time and for a long time.
Peace is always possible if, as the apostle Peter writes in one of his letters, we are always ready, prepared and aware to be accountable for our commitment and hope in favor of love and mutual understanding.
Thank you very much!
