In his address, the Pope stressed that every human life is sacred, whatever the individual’s ethnicity, religion, culture, or ideological and political convictions. It is highly significant that political authorities and religious leaders can meet to discuss how to respond to acts of violence committed in the name of religion. Above all and especially in our day, the religions are called to respect this imperative, since, for all our need of the Absolute, it is essential that we reject any ‘absolutizing’ that would justify violence. Violence promoted and carried out in the name of religion can only discredit religion itself. Adherence to a particular religion does not confer additional dignity and rights upon individuals, nor does non-adherence deny or diminish them.