Comunità di Sant’Egidio, Germania
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Today, we - young people from different regions of Germany and Europe – have come to Dachau to remember the victims of the inhuman policy of National Socialism. Men, women and children of different religions, peoples and cultures were deprived of their rights, mistreated and murdered. This memorial reminds us that every committed crime is an attack on humanity itself and on every human being. We do not want to forget and want to work so that such an unjust tragedy will never happen again – neither here nor in other parts of the world.
This is the heart of the International World Peace Prayer of religions. Here, with us are representatives of different peoples; victims of National socialist racial hatred. Towards them, men and women of faith express their will to work together to peacefully live together; this is the basis of every religions tradition.
We as young Europeans have been spared. Our generation did not experience war and violent oppression. However, we know that they are still cruel reality in many parts of the world. We also know that dictatorships and wars raged in Europe not long ago. Only if we actively commit ourselves to democracy, peace and human rights we can prevent that this will happen again. This is not only a task for a few politicians and religious leaders, but for every one of us. We are the generation which will live in the future. We are the generation, which has to build this future. In view of the suffering in the past and present, we want to commit ourselves to a future where nobody is mistreated, discriminated or excluded; a future where the weak and poor are a natural and precious part of society; a future where peoples and religions live together in peace. In the age of Internet and Facebook we cannot say that we do not know what is happening. No, it is not possible to shut oneself off and to live a life without or against the others. We are part of a big family: within seconds it is possible to communicate with thousands of people. The “Arab spring” showed the power of these contacts. No, it can no longer be denied that we are bound to live together worldwide. However, in the age of global communication we need a globalization of friendship, solidarity and love. We want to get to know people of other religions, cultures, nationalities, young and old, immigrants and those born here, weak and strong, rich and poor. We want to try to understand their thoughts, dreams and wishes, their way to see things. Let us decide to live our lives this way: dreaming of truly living together so that mankind can be freed from any kind of oppression and loneliness. It is a dream, but we can live it already in our cities and countries today. This evening in Munich, on the Marienplatz, this appeal will sound powerfully: it is possible to live together in peace, Bound to live together!
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