Dhaka: Pope Leo XIV has reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s unwavering commitment to fostering dialogue and harmony among religions, describing peace as “our most cherished dream.” His remarks came in a message delivered on Tuesday to the Conference on Interreligious Dialogue and Harmony taking place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from September 6–12.
The message was read at the gathering by Cardinal George Koovakad, Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, who attended the event alongside Msgr. Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakku Kankanamalage, Secretary of the Dicastery. The Pope praised the conference’s central theme “Promoting a Culture of Harmony between Brothers and Sisters” and encouraged participants to pursue a peace that is “unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering.”
Pope Leo emphasized that humanity is united in both origin and destiny under God, and therefore shares the responsibility to nurture a culture of peace. He reflected on the meaning of culture, describing it both as the heritage of ideas, arts, and institutions that define peoples, and as an environment that sustains human growth. He urged believers to cultivate this environment by ensuring the “sunlight of truth, the water of charity, and the soil of freedom and justice.”
Warning of the dangers of distrust and suspicion, the Pope likened interreligious dialogue to gardening, where communities work together to clear away the weeds of prejudice and nurture fraternity. “Together, as companions in interreligious dialogue, we are like gardeners tending this field of fraternity,” he said, stressing that dialogue helps peace to flourish where division has taken root.
The Pope commended the Dhaka conference as a living testimony that differences of creed or culture need not divide societies. Rather, encounters between diverse faith traditions can be powerful acts of resistance against hatred, violence, and exclusion. “Where others have sown distrust, we choose trust,” he said. “Where others might foster fear, we strive for understanding; where others view differences as barriers, we recognize them as avenues of mutual enrichment.”
Highlighting the need for shared experiences beyond shared ideas, Pope Leo noted that genuine friendship among religions is built when communities serve the vulnerable together. He praised the people of Bangladesh for standing shoulder to shoulder across faith lines during times of natural disasters and social crises. Such collaboration, he said, builds bridges not only between religions but also between theory and practice, and between divided communities.
Reiterating the Catholic Church’s pledge to walk side by side with other religions in the pursuit of peace, the Pope acknowledged that past wounds and misunderstandings may slow progress. Yet, he encouraged perseverance in dialogue and practical collaboration, describing every joint effort from group discussions to community service projects as bricks in building what St. John Paul II once envisioned as “a civilization of love.”
Concluding his message, Pope Leo assured the interreligious leaders gathered in Dhaka of his fraternal closeness and invoked God’s blessing upon Bangladesh, praying that the nation may continue to grow in harmony and peace.