Friar says indigenous religions' values contribute to peacemaking

Published: 2005-01-14

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The values held by indigenous religions, especially their focus on living in harmony with the created world and with families -- past, present and future -- contribute to peacemaking, said an Atonement friar. U.S. Atonement Father Paul Ojibway, who is half Chippewa, was one of the speakers at a Jan. 12-15 Vatican study conference on the contributions to peace made by traditional religions. The conference was sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, which held a similar meeting in 2003 looking at the admonitions to peace found in the Scriptures of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians and Sikhs. Traditional or tribal religions were examined separately because they do not have a formally recognized body of sacred texts, said Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, council president. The Native American respect for the earth and its recognition of the Creator's spirit present in creation is something "much deeper" than a love for nature or an environmental policy, Father Ojibway told Catholic News Service Jan. 14. "It's really about healing," which is a religious value with implications not just for ecology, but also for how people live together, said the friar, a consultant to the U.S. bishops' Committee for Evangelization.

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