The Theme: Suffering, Liberation, and Fraternity
In the words of Pope Francis: “Fraternity is an essential human quality, for we are all relational beings. A lively awareness of our relatedness helps us to look upon and treat each person as a true sister or brother; without fraternity it is impossible to build a just society and a solid and lasting peace.” (Quoted from Pope Francis’ Message for the World Day of Peace 2014 entitled “Fraternity: The Foundation and Pathway to Peace” (n.1).
About dialogue, Pope Francis said, “Respectful and harmonious exchange of views leads to attitudes of kindness and love which in turn generate authentic and fraternal relationships.”
To Buddhists, the Vesakh Message says: “You are also convinced that the root of all evil is the ignorance and delusion born of greed and hatred, which in turn destroy the bonds of fraternity….As Buddhists and Christians, we live in a world all too often torn apart by oppression, selfishness, tribalism, ethnic rivalry, violence and religious fundamentalism, a world where the ‘other’ is treated as an inferior, a non-person, or someone to be feared and eliminated if possible.”
