Take note of the portions I boldfaced...

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1986/october/docuмents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19861027_prayer-peace-assisi_en.html

My Brothers and Sisters,
Heads and Representatives of the Christian Churches
and Ecclesial Communities and of the World Religions,
Dear Friends,

1. HAVE THE HONOUR and pleasure of welcoming all of you for our World Day of Prayer in this town of Assisi. Let me begin by thanking you from the bottom of my heart, for the openness and good will with which you have accepted my invitation to pray at Assisi.

As religious leaders you have come here not for an interreligious Conference on peace, where the emphasis would be on discussion or research for plans of action on a worldwide scale in favour of a common cause.

The coming together of so many religious leaders to pray is in itself an invitation today to the world to become aware that there exists another dimension of peace and another way of promoting it which is not a result of negotiations, political compromises or economic bargainings. It is the result of prayer, which, in the diversity of religions, expresses a relationship with a supreme power that surpasses our human capacities alone.

We come from afar, not only, for many of us, by reason of geographical distance, but above all because of our respective historical and spiritual origins.

2. The fact that we have come here does not imply any intention of seeking a religious consensus among ourselves or of negotiating our faith convictions. Neither does it mean that religions can be reconciled at the level of a common commitment in an earthly project which would surpass them all. Nor is it a concession to relativism in religious beliefs, because every human being must sincerely follow his or her upright conscience with the intention of seeking and obeying the truth.

Our meeting attests only - and this is its real significance for the people of our time - that in the great battle for peace, humanity, in its very diversity, must draw from its deepest and most vivifying sources where its conscience is formed and upon which is founded the moral action of all people.

3. I see this gathering today as a very significant sign of the commitment of all of you to the cause of peace. It is this commitment that has brought us to Assisi. The fact that we profess different creeds does not detract from the significance of this Day. On the contrary, the Churches, Ecclesial Communities and World Religions are showing that they are eager for the good of humanity.

Peace, where it exists, is always extremely fragile. It is threatened in so many ways and with such unforeseeable consequences that we must endeavour to provide it with secure foundations. Without in any way denying the need for the many human resources which maintain and strengthen peace, we are here because we are sure that, above and beyond all such measures, we need prayer - intense, humble and trusting prayer - if the world is finally to become a place of true and permanent peace.

This Day is, therefore, a day for prayer and for what goes together with prayer: silence, pilgrimage and fasting. By abstaining from food we shall become more conscious of the universal need for penance and inner transformation.

4. Religions are many and varied, and they reflect the desire of men and women down through the ages to enter into a relationship with the Absolute Being.

Prayer entails conversion of heart on our part. It means deepening our sense of the ultimate Reality. This is the very reason for our coming together in this place.

We shall go from here to our separate places of prayer. Each religion will have the time and opportunity to express itself in its own traditional rite. Then from these separate places of prayer, we will walk in silence towards the lower Square of Saint Francis. Once gathered in the Square, again each religion will be able to present its own prayer, one after the other.

Having thus prayed separately, we shall meditate in silence on our own responsibility to work for peace. We shall then declare symbolically our commitment to peace. At the end of the Day, I shall try to express what this unique celebration will have said to my heart, as a believer in Jesus Christ and the first servant of the Catholic Church.

5. I wish to express again my gratitude to you for having come to Assisi to pray. I also thank all the individuals and religious communities who have associated themselves with our prayers.

I have chosen this town of Assisi as the place for our Day of Prayer for Peace because of the particular significance of the holy man venerated here - Saint Francis - known and revered by so many throughout the world as a symbol of peace reconciliation and brotherhood. Inspired by his example, his meekness and humility let us dispose our hearts for prayer in true internal silence.

Let us make this Day an anticipation of a peaceful world.

May peace come down upon us and fill our hearts!

The "separate places of prayer" were on Catholic turf, courtesy of The Deuce.

From Mortalium animos (note the bold, stevie):

"A similar object is aimed at by some, in those matters which concern the New Law promulgated by Christ our Lord. For since they hold it for certain that men destitute of all religious sense are very rarely to be found, they seem to have founded on that belief a hope that the nations, although they differ among themselves in certain religious matters, will without much difficulty come to agree as brethren in professing certain doctrines, which form as it were a common basis of the spiritual life. For which reason conventions, meetings and addresses are frequently arranged by these persons, at which a large number of listeners are present, and at which all without distinction are invited to join in the discussion, both infidels of every kind, and Christians, even those who have unhappily fallen away from Christ or who with obstinacy and pertinacity deny His divine nature and mission. Certainly such attempts can nowise be approved by Catholics, founded as they are on that false opinion which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy, since they all in different ways manifest and signify that sense which is inborn in us all, and by which we are led to God and to the obedient acknowledgment of His rule. Not only are those who hold this opinion in error and deceived, but also in distorting the idea of true religion they reject it, and little by little. turn aside to naturalism and atheism, as it is called; from which it clearly follows that one who supports those who hold these theories and attempt to realize them, is altogether abandoning the divinely revealed religion."

"A similar object is aimed at by some, in those matters which concern the New Law promulgated by Christ our Lord. For since they hold it for certain that men destitute of all religious sense are very rarely to be found, they seem to have founded on that belief a hope that the nations, although they differ among themselves in certain religious matters, will without much difficulty come to agree as brethren in professing certain doctrines, which form as it were a common basis of the spiritual life. For which reason conventions, meetings and addresses are frequently arranged by these persons, at which a large number of listeners are present, and at which all without distinction are invited to join in the discussion, both infidels of every kind, and Christians, even those who have unhappily fallen away from Christ or who with obstinacy and pertinacity deny His divine nature and mission. Certainly such attempts can nowise be approved by Catholics, founded as they are on that false opinion which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy, since they all in different ways manifest and signify that sense which is inborn in us all, and by which we are led to God and to the obedient acknowledgment of His rule. Not only are those who hold this opinion in error and deceived, but also in distorting the idea of true religion they reject it, and little by little. turn aside to naturalism and atheism, as it is called; from which it clearly follows that one who supports those who hold these theories and attempt to realize them, is altogether abandoning the divinely revealed religion."

This quote has absolutely nothing to do with Assisi.

Please re-read paragraph 2 of JPII's opening address.

The fact that we have come here does not imply any intention of seeking a religious consensus among ourselves or of negotiating our faith convictions. Neither does it mean that religions can be reconciled at the level of a common commitment in an earthly project which would surpass them all. Nor is it a concession to relativism in religious beliefs, because every human being must sincerely follow his or her upright conscience with the intention of seeking and obeying the truth.

You are presuming to judge the late Pope's heart.

 :cry:

So, you think The Deuce was courageous?  Is that how his 26-year pontificate produced such wonderful results?

The "separate places of prayer" were on Catholic turf, courtesy of The Deuce.

stevie, it seems that you fail to read Modernists as Modernists -- i.e., they will say one thing that is perfectly Catholic, but follow it up with things that are rationalist, etc.  The Catholic statements do not save the day.  Do you grasp this?

stevie, it seems that you fail to read Modernists as Modernists -- i.e., they will say one thing that is perfectly Catholic, but follow it up with things that are rationalist, etc.  The Catholic statements do not save the day.  Do you grasp this?

So you agree paragraph 2, stated by JPII, is perfectly Catholic and not in conflict with MA?

Because in paragraph 2 he states very clearly what they are there for and what they are NOT there for. They are not there for the reasons spelled out in MA.

I noticed.  See ya on the morrow :)

Did you notice that my response which you quoted when hounding me was to a post that came BEFORE your post asking about paragraph 2?  You got on my case before I COULD have read your other comment...CALM DOWN...

I recommend reading this before going any further with this subject.  It is a truly enlightening set of books.  I'll give the ending away: Assisi was nothing less than the expression of John Paul's ecclesiology of the "People of God."  Ask yourself this question, could a man in good conscience invite another man to committ what he believes to be a mortal sin?  Obviously, no that would be incomprehensible.  Therefore it must necessarily follow that Pope John considered these religious acts to be an essentially good thing, pleasing to God and even an effective means to petition God for a temporal blessing.  To focus on the fact that they were separated is to miss the point of the entire affair.  Surely he realized that if they all worshipped literally together it would cause great scandal even in the minds of the most spiritually bereft Catholics.  To much too soon as they say.  He makes no "religious" concessions precisely because he sees in these religions precious expression of human aspiration towards God and therefore values such diversity.  He held that these religions are essentially ordered to the Church and that they are so many different fertile preparations for the Gospel, that explicit manifestation of Christ whom they implicitly profess by means of the transcendence of the human spirit as manifested in these religions.  They all form so many parts of that wonderfully diverse "People of God."