AMERICA/ARGENTINA – Ecumenical and interreligious celebration: “Forgive us our trespasses, grant us your peace”

Mar del Plata – Prayers for peoples suffering from violence, exclusion, and war, along with a shared commitment to be peacemakers in the city and around the world: this marked the annual meeting of religious leaders from different communities in the country for unity and brotherhood.

The celebration, held under the theme “Forgive us our trespasses, give us your peace,” took place in the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Cecilia, within the framework of the International Week of Prayer for Peace. The meeting was organized by the Diocesan Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue of the Catholic Church.

“Listening to the many reflections, I thought: our brothers of the Jewish religion, one flower; the Muslims, another flower; the Christians, another flower; “And the fourth flower, our brothers and sisters of good will who, although they have no religion, are also builders of peace,” said the Bishop of the Diocese of Mar del Plata, Ernesto Giobando, SJ, inviting those present to contemplate the basilica’s central rose window as a symbol of the interreligious encounter.

The prelate also emphasized that “in the midst of war, instead of swords, flowers can sprout, signs of brotherhood and the beauty of God. We must not offer aggression or insults; we must offer a flower. The world would change if we transformed what causes aggression into signs of peace.” He also recalled Pope Francis’s desire to “see faithful of different faiths and beliefs gathered in common prayer.”

Those present, representatives of the Evangelical Pastoral of Mar del Plata, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Argentine Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, and the SUIM-Mar del Plata Israelite Union Society, shared prayers for peace in a climate of mutual respect, unity, and brotherhood. This sentiment was also echoed by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Christian Missionary Movement, the New Apostolic Church, and the secretary of the Maulana Ali Rida Mosque.

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