On 24 January a ‘round-table’ meeting was held at the Lviv Theological Academy (LTA) for members of religious communities registered in Lviv. This event was done in a spirit of unity with the meeting of Christian and world religious leaders in the Italian town of Assisi on January 24, a meeting initiated by the Holy Father. Participants at the LTA’s round-table meeting were urged to prepare brief reports on their understanding of peace and their thoughts on the present situation in the world from the perspective of their religions.

Fr. Michael Kviatkovskiy, vice-rector of the LTA, remarked that “in the modern world, full of anxiety and uncertainty, people’s attention is drawn to the ‘hot places’ on the planet, such as Afghanistan, Israel, the Palestinian Autonomy, India and Pakistan. Worrisome news that is coming from these locations is very often interpreted in the context of religious tensions, and the belief that God is a source of conflict. In order to object to these flawed interpretations and to show that a true religiosity is always connected with a love of peace, Pope John Paul II invited on 24 January 2002 Christian and world religious leaders to Assisi in order to share a common prayer meeting with the intention of peace. The UGCC was represented at this meeting by His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar.”

“In preparation for the world day of peace,” stated Fr. Kviatkovskiy, “we planned to hold a round table meeting at the LTA for the largest religious communities in Lviv. However, when we shared our plans with His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar, who happens to be the Chancellor of the LTA, he advised us to invite representatives of all religious communities in Lviv. He gave us his blessing to encourage all religious confessions in Lviv to have a prayer for peace at their various locations on 24 January at 12pm.”

According to information from Vidimus Dominum, the idea of having the meeting in Assisi this year was first proposed by His Beatitude Lubomyr. During the synod of bishops in Rome during October of last year, the Holy Father invited numerous bishops for dinner, one of who was Cardinal Husar. In his conversation with the pope, His Beatitude recalled the prayer meeting held in Assisi 1986, where the heads of world religious communities were present. Having compared this historical event with the present situation in the world, His Beatitude emphasized how important it would be to have such a meeting again. Fr. Virginio Bressanelli, a witness of this conversation, commented that “after a moment of silence the Holy Father nodded his head in agreement with this suggestion.” In a month, on 18 November 2001, during the traditional Angelus prayer, the Holy Father declared the meeting in Assisi.