The Mediterranean Theological Network (RTMed) insisted one cannot pray or live without listening to the cry and terror of people suffering because of war in the Mediterranean and beyond, stressed that the world stood “on the brink of a conflict of catastrophic proportions.”

The RTMed network was established around the editorial team of a manifesto for a theology from the Mediterranean, and counts members from across the Mediterranean, including Malta. Just last week, RTMed held its annual international and transdisciplinary symposium at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Rabat.

RTMed said that it felt the urgency to share a reflection “matured in pain and prayer” in the face of war and the suffering it was causing, recalling Pope Leo XIV’s appeal that “we must never get used to war.”

The network asked communities of different religious traditions – especially those rooted in the Mediterranean – “to find new and incisive words to promote the knowledge and diffusion of sacred words and symbols that foster peace, and to condemn all forms of manipulation of sacred texts aimed at inciting hatred.”

It recalled the late Pope Francis’ invitation on 2019 for renewed and shared narratives which make it possible to see oneself “in a constructive, peaceful and hope-generating way.”

“We are aware that we stand on the brink of a conflict of catastrophic proportions,” RTMed said. “We cannot pray or live without listening to the cry and terror of peoples threatened, suffering, and devastated in the Mediterranean and beyond—the cry of all victims of present and past violence.”

An appeal to people of goodwill

RTMed invite “every community, every believer, every man and woman of goodwill” to listen to this cry and to question God with the words that remain to them.

It invoked the Holy Spirit “to once again breathe over the ruins of hatred and war, bringing forth life where death reigns, and love where hatred rules.”

“We invite you to join us, to pray and speak with God, but also to begin speaking again with one another, as human beings, for the world cannot remain the same after these conflicts that afflict all humanity,” it said. “Our theology, our way of speaking of God, calls us today to a word renewed by the peace that comes from God.”

Source: Newsbook.com.mt