"Jews, Christians and Muslims cannot accept that the world be afflicted by hate," Pope John

VATICAN CITY, January 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Pope John Paul II of the Vatican Saturday, January 17, exhorted Christians, Muslims and Jews to burry the hatches and work in tandem to rid the world of never-ending wars.

"The history of relations among Jews, Christians and Muslims is characterized by lights and shadows, and unfortunately, has known painful moments," he told a special Vatican concert for religious reconciliation.

"Jews, Christians and Muslims cannot accept that the world be afflicted by hate and that mankind is ravaged by never-ending wars," he told a special Vatican concert for religious reconciliation, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Flanked by Rome's former chief rabbi, Elio Toaff, Israel's two chief rabbis and Rome Imam Abdulawhav Hussein Gomaa, the 83-year-old pope underlined "the pressing need for a sincere reconciliation between those who believe there is only one God."

Addressing a 7,000-strong spectator who filled the Pope Paul VI auditorium, he urged all believers to work hard "to find, within ourselves, the courage for peace."

The Vatican said the concert, a celebration of Karol Wojtyla's 25 years as Pope John Paul II, was intended to promote the commitment to peaceful co-existence among all the children of Abraham.

Most conveniently, the work receiving its premier at the Vatican was titled Abraham, the name of the biblical patriarch revered by members of all three faiths.

The brass-and-voice piece, written by U.S. composer John Harbison especially for the event, was the Pittsburgh Symphony orchestra, directed by Gilbert Levine.

"Music can go where words don't go," Levine said of the concert.

"I've been told this is one of the great points in the arc of his pontificate."

The inter-faith theme of the concert was echoed among the performers - a mixed choir consisting of singers from the London Philharmonic, from Turkey, from the Pope's own home town of Krakow in Poland and from Pittsburgh in the United States, said the BBC News Online.

"It is very important and we are very happy," said Sahin Altun, a member of the Ankara chorus.

"It is very important for our country. We are very happy to make this music."