Speech of Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, Archbishop of  Washington

I want to express my appreciation to President Nazarbayev for an opportunity to participate in this important meeting, thank you for the support you rendered to gather all of us here.

Today in the morning during our discussion some of you have noted that the bird has flied in and it directly flied to President Nazarbayev. I believe that it is a good sign confirming his choice of a correct way to unite us in order to move further in this important direction.

Mr. Speaker, today I will not take too much time for three reasons.

Firstly, Mr. Etchegaray who has been appointed as the president of the delegation, was directed to this Congress by Benedikt XVI and unfortunately he missed the plane. He will arrive later and you will meet him tomorrow. The Cardinal is really one of the greatest people representing our church. The factor that Holy Father sent him to this Congress as President of Vatican Delegation is a true sign that he attaches much importance to this conference for the future of religions, as an opportunity to work together for various religious groups. It is the first reason.

As I know what will Cardinal say tomorrow, I don't want to take much time today.

The second reason is that I attentively listened to many speeches made by very respectful leaders of various religions and I was impressed and inspired.

I understand that I cannot add anything to what they have already said. Thirdly, I want to tell about the following today. If we do nothing but simply establish a dialogue we will never be able to overcome distinctions and complexities between religious bodies. And if we do nothing more than joint prays, and it is necessary that all religious leaders tried to work together. We have to learn to look at the world, which has many problems and difficulties. There are millions of poor people who have no means to live hi this world. There are millions and billions of people who have no access to pure water so necessary for the health.

There are millions of people who have no opportunity to be educated and to learn how to live in this world. Meanwhile, understanding of own culture could substantially improve and strengthen their life. There are so many poor, ill and suffering people in our world. If world religions don't work jointly to help these people, they will never get help. It would be unfair to enable poUticians to try to cure all wounds of this world. We are spiritual physicians. We worship one God who has different names. But it is God who loves all of us, and calls to love our neighbors. Therefore, the only contribution I would like to bring this time (this contribution win be insignificant), that it is necessary for us to find ways not only to communicate with each other but also to work together. If we can work together for the sake of poor, needy, hungry, uneducated people, it is the best way to learn about each other more to overcome biases, to become leaders, as God wishes to see, in order to make the world the best place.

Thanks to Mr. Chairman for this opportunity. May God bless us in this trip.