Pope Francis joined Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders in calling on the world’s major religions to paint in combination for peace, saying at an interfaith summit that faith should never be used to justify violence and that devout leaders will have to counter “childishness. “”Whims of the tough guys for the wage war.
On his special day in the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain, Francis closed a convention on East-West discussion through King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
It was his moment of such a convention in as many months, after Kazakhstan, evidence of Francis’ basic conviction that moments of encounter between other people of other faiths can help today’s conflicts and promote a more just and sustainable world.
Sitting around him on the grounds of the Sakhir Royal Palace were prominent Muslim imams, the non-secular leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians and American rabbis who have long been committed to interfaith dialogue, as well as the king.
Speaker after speaker, he called for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the opening of peace negotiations.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which sent an emissary to the conference, strongly supported the Kremlin in its war and justified it.
Francis told the meeting that while the world appears to be parting apart like two opposing seas, the mere presence of devout leaders in combination was evidence that they “intend to sail in the same waters, opting for the direction of encounter rather than confrontation. “
“It is a striking paradox that, while the majority of the world’s population is united to face the same challenges, suffering severe food, ecological and pandemic crises, as well as shocking global injustice, some potentates are caught in a resolute struggle. for partisan interests,” he said.
“It seems that we are witnessing a dramatic and childish scenario: on the lawn of humanity, to cultivate what surrounds us, we play with fire, missiles and bombs, cannons that bring pain and death, covering our not unusual house with ash and hatred. He said.
King Hamad, for his part, called for a constant effort to prevent Russia’s war in Ukraine and announce peace negotiations, “for the good of all mankind. “
This stopover is Francis’ moment in a Gulf Arabian country, following his historic 2019 in Abu Dhabi, where he signed a document selling the Catholic-Muslim fraternity with a prominent Sunni cleric, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb.
M. al-Tayeb is the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning in Cairo, and has Francis’ key wife to promote greater understanding between Christians and Muslims.
M. al-Tayeb joined Francis in Bahrain and also served last month in Kazakhstan.
In his prepared remarks on Friday he called for an end to the war in Russia “to save the lives of other innocent people who have nothing to do with this violent tragedy. “
M. al-Tayeb also called on Sunni and Shia Muslims to interact in a similar discussion process and try to heal their centuries of divisions, and said Al-Azhar is in a position to organize such a meeting.
“Let’s expel together all hate speech, provocation and excommunication and separate the old and fashionable conflicts throughout their bureaucracy and with all their negative ramifications,” he said.
Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni monarchy that has been accused by human rights teams of systematically discriminating against opponents of its Shiite majority, the government says.
Later Friday, M. al-Tayeb was scheduled to meet Francis privately and participate in a larger assembly at the royal palace mosque with the Muslim Council of Elders, which he heads.
Francis also took his discussion message to Bahrain’s Christian leaders by presiding over an ecumenical assembly and prayer for peace at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, the largest Catholic church in the Gulf, which opened last year on land donated to the church through King Hamad.
Francis opened his own to Bahrain on Thursday by urging Bahrain’s government to renounce the death penalty and guarantee fundamental human rights for all citizens, a nod to Bahrain’s Shiite dissidents who say they have been harassed and detained, subjected to torture and “mock trials. “, some were sentenced to death for their political activities.
He denies any discrimination against Shiites.
Francis also aimed to highlight Bahrain’s culture of devout tolerance: Unlike neighboring Saudi Arabia, where Christians practice their faith brazenly, Bahrain is home to several Christian communities as well as a small Jewish community.
In his prepared remarks at the forum, U. S. Rabbi Marc Schneier, who has long worked to promote Muslim Jews and is King Hamad’s special adviser on interfaith issues, praised Bahrain as a “model in the Arab world for the coexistence and tolerance of other devotees. “communities. “