Dialogue between
Christianity and Islam is crucial to promote peace worldwide,
Pope Francis said during his weekly general audience in the
Vatican on Wednesday following a landmark visit to the United
Arab Emirates.
"Dialogue between Christianity and Islam needs to be a key
factor for peace in the world today", the pontiff said.
The pope said the trip was "brief but very important",
linking it to his 2017 visit to Al-Azhar, Egypt, the highest
seat of learning in Sunni Islam, and wrote "a new page in the
dialogue between Christianity and Islam and in efforts to
promote peace in the world based on human brotherhood".
Francis noted that it was the "first time that a pope visited
the Arabian peninsula" and that "providence wanted it to be a
pope called Francis, 800 years after the visit of St Francis of
Assisi to Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil.
The pontiff said the UAE has grown a lot over the past few
decades becoming a "crossroads between East and West, a
multi-ethnic and multi-religious 'oasis' and thus the right
place to promote the culture of encounter".
"In an era like ours, when there is a strong temptation to
see an ongoing clash between the Christian and Islamic
civilization, and also to consider religions as sources of
conflict, we have wanted to give a further clear and decided
sign that it instead possible to meet, it is possible to respect
one another and dialogue and that, despite the diversity of
cultures and traditions, the Christian and Islamic worlds
appreciate and preserve common values", the pope went on to say,
citing life, family, a sense of religion, honoring the elderly
and educating the young, among others.
The pontiff in particular recalled the he has signed with the
grand imam of al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi a historic declaration of
fraternity, calling for peace between nations, religions and
races in which "we condemn all forms of violence, especially
when it is motivated by religion and we pledge to promote
authentic values and peace worldwide".
He recalled that over one million Christians live in the UAE,
mainly workers from Asian countries, and that he met with
representatives of the Catholic community at Abu Dhabi's St
Josepth Cathedral, celebrating a mass with patriarchs,
archbishops and bishops in which they "prayed in particular for
peace and justice, with special intention for the Middle East
and Yemen".
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