New York, NY (1888PressRelease)
April 15, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI would serve humanity best if he declared during his U.S. visit no path to God was better than any other, a global spiritual group said Tuesday.
"God loves us all equally, and denies no one," the 94-country Humanity's Team movement said.
"This includes non-Catholics, homosexuals and people who have had abortions," said the nonpartisan grassroots movement dedicated to "Awakening the World to Oneness."
The pontiff will have several opportunities during his visit to proclaim humanity's inherent unity, "through God and as part of life itself," the Boulder, Colo., group said.
High-profile opportunities include his United Nations speech Friday, the centerpiece of his trip, and his visit to New York's Ground Zero Sunday, where nearly 3,000 people from more than 80 different countries and all major faith traditions were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Humanity's Team urged the pope, at both locations, to call on every nation to declare that no legitimate interpretation of any faith justifies murdering people in cold blood, killing unsuspecting innocent people by flying airplanes into buildings or engaging in preemptive wars based on questionable intelligence, the group said.
"No path to God is more direct than any other path," the group said. "No religion is the 'one true religion,' no people are 'the chosen people' and no prophet is the 'greatest prophet.' We are all one."
