Dialogue in Lumen Fidei – The Christian Anthropology of Faith:
Dialogue is the way to truth when it is sincere giving of self, then each self is experiencing being the Person of the Son Who is pure gift to the Father. Francis said as much in his homily on May 22, 2013: To both atheists and believers, he said that “if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good.”
And since only God is “good” (“There is only one who is good…” Mark 10), and the Father is completely out of Himself in engendering the Son; and so, we become “good” by the action of going out of ourselves in sincere dialogue. And so the pope invites both Jews and Palestinians to Rome to pray in his “house,” and in so doing, gently and – as he puts it – tenderly, they begin to experience themselves as “good,” and the other as “good.” Francis remarks in his encyclical with Benedict “Lumen fidei:” #34. The light of love proper to faith can illumine the questions of our own time about truth. Truth nowadays is often reduced to the subjective authenticity of the individual, valid only for the life of the individual. A common truth intimidates us, for we identify it with the intransigent demands of totalitarian systems. But if truth is a truth of love, if it is a truth disclosed in personal encounter with the Other and with others, then it can be set free from its enclosure in individuals and become part of the common good. As a truth of love, it is not one that can be imposed by force; it is not a truth that stifles the individual. Since it is born of love, it can penetrate to the heart, to the personal core of each man and woman. Clearly, then, faith is not intransigent, but grows in respectful coexistence with others. One who believes may not be presumptuous; on the contrary, truth leads to humility, since believers know that, rather than ourselves possessing truth, it is truth which embraces and possesses us. Far from making us inflexible, the security of faith sets us on a journey; it enables witness and dialogue with all.”
May 24, 2014:
Bethlehem, West Bank (CNN) -- Pope Francis extended an invitation Sunday to the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to travel to the Vatican for a "peace initiative," after earlier calling for a two-state solution to the intractable conflict.
The pontiff's remarks came at the end of an outdoor Mass in Bethlehem's Manger Square on the second day of his three-day trip to the Middle East.
"In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with Israeli President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace," Francis said.
"I offer my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer."
He added, "Building peace is difficult, but living without peace is a constant torment. The men and women of these lands, and of the entire world, all of them, ask us to bring before God their fervent hopes for peace."
The Palestinian side has accepted the invitation and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will go to the Vatican, a Palestinian Legislative Council member, Hanan Ashrawi, told CNN.
The Israeli President's office said that he welcomed the invitation. "President Peres has always supported, and will continue to support, any attempts to progress the cause of peace," his office said.
Pope Francis then traveled on to Tel Aviv, where in remarks on the airport tarmac to Peres and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he again issued an invitation to pray for peace at the Vatican. He also reiterated the Vatican's support for Israel's right to exist in peace and security.
The next stop on his historic trip was Jerusalem.
Two states
Earlier, speaking alongside Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Francis called for the recognition of a Palestinian state -- but he made the same demand on behalf of the state of Israel.
He urged "the acknowledgment by all of the right of two states to exist and to live in peace and security within internationally recognized borders."
The Pope called on all sides to pursue a path to peace together and not take unilateral actions to disrupt it.
"I can only express my profound hope that all will refrain from initiatives and actions which contradict the stated desire to reach a true agreement, and that peace will be pursued with tireless determination and tenacity," he said.
Middle East peace talks recently stalled despite high-profile efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to push them forward.
The government of Israel has objected to unilateral initiatives by Palestinians to seek international recognition as a state, and Palestinians have objected to Israeli initiatives to expand settlements on the West Bank.
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