Pope Francis warned Friday that the world is on the brink of a “delicate precipice” buffeted by “winds of war,” a holiday aimed at bridging the gap between religions.
The 85-year-old Argentine denounced the “opposing blocs” of East and West, a veiled reference to the stalemate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
“We are still on the edge of a sensitive precipice and we don’t need to fall,” he told an audience that included Bahrain’s king and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar Mosque, a Sunni learning center.
Francis later to meet Tayeb.
“Some potentates are caught in a tug-of-war for partisan interests, reviving rhetoric, redrawing spheres of influence and opposing blocs,” he added.
“It seems that we are witnessing a dramatic and childish scenario: on the lawn of humanity, of cultivating our environment, we play with fire, missiles and bombs. “
The pope comes as the war in Ukraine is in its ninth month and tensions are rising on the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan Strait.
Ahead of the pope’s speech, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in September, said there were “some small signs” of progress in negotiations with Moscow.
“All peace projects are good. What is that we do them together and that they are not exploited for other purposes,” he said.
– Alleged abuse –
The pope, who uses a wheelchair and cane because of chronic knee problems, scheduled a later meeting with members of the Muslim Council of Elders.
The pontiff’s moment in the Gulf, the cradle of Islam, comes 3 years after he signed a Muslim-Christian manifesto for peace in the United Arab Emirates.
Leader of the world’s 1. 3 billion Catholics, Francis has placed interfaith discussion at the center of his pontificate, visiting Muslim-majority countries as well as Egypt, Turkey and Iraq.
He opened his first stop in Bahrain on Thursday denouncing the death penalty and calling for respect for human rights and better conditions for workers.
Human rights teams had in the past suggested the pontiff denounce alleged abuses and intervene to help those sentenced to death in the Sunni-ruled monarchy, which is home to a large Shiite population.
In the opening speech of his stopover at the Royal Palace in Sakhir, he said it is important that “fundamental human rights are not violated but promoted. “
“I think first of all of the right to life, wanting to guarantee that right, added to those who are sanctioned, who are not going to have to take their lives,” he said.
Bahrain has executed six others since 2017, when it carried out its first execution in seven years. Some of those convicted were convicted following a 2011 uprising suppressed by the army of neighboring Saudi Arabia.
A government spokesman rejected allegations of rights violations, saying Bahrain “does not tolerate discrimination” and does not prosecute because of its devout or political beliefs.
Speaking less than three weeks before the World Cup in neighboring Qatar, which is under scrutiny for its remedy to migrant workers, the pope also demanded “safe and dignified” career situations for all.
PromotedListen to the newest songs, in JioSaavn. com
“A lot of paintings are dehumanizing,” he said. This not only poses a serious threat of social instability, but also poses a threat to human dignity. “
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed. )
Follow:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advertising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .