SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — With Russia’s war in Ukraine raging, Pope Francis joined Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders on Friday in calling for the nice religions to work together for peace, telling an interfaith summit that religion must not ever be used to justify violence and that faith leaders must oppose the “childlike” whims of the powerful to make war.
On his second day within the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain, Francis closed out a conference on East-West dialogue sponsored by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa after which met individually with Muslim leaders on the royal mosque.
It was his second such conference in as many months, following one in Kazakhstan, evidence of Francis’ core belief that moments of encounter amongst people of various faiths might help heal today’s conflicts and promote a more just and sustainable world.
“We seem like witnessing a dramatic and childlike scenario: within the garden of humanity, as a substitute of cultivating our surroundings, we’re playing as a substitute with fire, missiles and bombs.”
Sitting around him within the Sakhir royal palace grounds were leading Muslim imams, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians and U.S. rabbis who’ve long engaged in interfaith dialogue. Speaker after speaker called for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the beginning of peace negotiations. The Russian Orthodox Church, which sent an envoy to the conference, has strongly supported the Kremlin in its war and justified it on religious grounds.
Francis told the gathering that, while the world appears to be heading apart like two opposing seas, the mere presence of non secular leaders together was evidence that they “intend to set sail on the identical waters, selecting the route of encounter slightly than that of confrontation.”
“It’s a striking paradox that, while nearly all of the world’s population is united in facing the identical difficulties, affected by grave food, ecological and pandemic crises, in addition to an increasingly scandalous global injustice, a couple of potentates are caught up in a resolute struggle for partisan interests,” he said.
“We seem like witnessing a dramatic and childlike scenario: within the garden of humanity, as a substitute of cultivating our surroundings, we’re playing as a substitute with fire, missiles and bombs, weapons that bring sorrow and death, covering our common home with ashes and hatred,” he said.
King Hamad, for his part, urged a coherent effort to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine and promote peace negotiations, “for the nice of all of humanity.”
The visit is Francis’ second to a Gulf Arab country, following his 2019 landmark trip to Abu Dhabi, where he signed a document promoting Catholic-Muslim fraternity with a number one Sunni cleric, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. Al-Tayeb is the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning in Cairo, and has develop into Francis’ key partner in promoting greater Christian-Muslim understanding to advertise peace and fight climate change.
To the imams gathered, Francis insisted that “the God of peace never brings about war, never incites hatred, never supports violence.”
Al-Tayeb joined Francis in Bahrain and was readily available last month in Kazakhstan, too. In his prepared remarks, he called Friday for an end to Russia’s war “to spare the lives of innocents who don’t have any hand on this violent tragedy.”
Al-Tayeb also called for Sunni and Shiite Muslims to interact in an analogous strategy of dialogue to attempt to heal their centuries of division, and added that Al-Azhar was prepared to host such an encounter. The Sunni-Shiite split inside Islam is rooted within the query of who should succeed the Prophet Muhammad after his death in 632.
“Allow us to together ward off any talk of hate, provocation and excommunication and put aside ancient and modern conflict in all its forms and with all its negative offshoots,” he said. Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni monarchy that has been accused by human rights groups of systematic discrimination against its Shiite majority, charges the federal government rejects.
Later Friday, al-Tayeb met privately with Francis, who praised his opening to Shiites. “Today you were very courageous whenever you spoke about dialogue inside Islam” the pope said.
They each then presided over a gathering on the royal mosque between the Vatican delegation and the Muslim Council of Elders, which began with a young boy chanting verses from the Quran and a young Christian girl reading a Bible verse. As some 20 outdoor air conditioners chilled the mosque’s courtyard, each Vatican and Muslim speakers listed environmental concerns and climate change as a primary concern for humanity.
To the imams gathered, Francis insisted that “the God of peace never brings about war, never incites hatred, never supports violence.”
Francis opened his visit to Bahrain on Thursday by urging Bahrain authorities resign the death penalty and ensure basic human rights are guaranteed for all residents.
Francis was also bring his message of dialogue to Bahrain’s Christian leaders by presiding over an ecumenical meeting and peace prayer on the Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral, the most important Catholic Church within the Gulf, which was inaugurated last yr on land gifted to the church by Al Khalifa.
Francis opened his visit to Bahrain on Thursday by urging Bahrain authorities resign the death penalty and ensure basic human rights are guaranteed for all residents. It was a nod to Bahraini Shiite dissidents who say they’ve been harassed and detained, subject to torture and “sham trials,” with some stripped of their citizenship or sentenced to death for his or her political activities. The federal government denies discriminating against Shiites.
Francis raised the citizenship issue in his remarks Friday, albeit basically terms, stressing the necessity for countries to “establish in our societies the concept of full citizenship” and reject terms like minorities.
Francis, though, also aimed to spotlight Bahrain’ tradition of non secular tolerance: Unlike neighboring Saudi Arabia, where Christians cannot openly practice their faith, Bahrain is home to several Christian communities in addition to a small Jewish community.
In his prepared remarks to the forum, U.S. Rabbi Marc Schneier, who has long worked to advertise Jewish-Muslim understanding and serves as Al Khalifa’s special advisor on interfaith matters, praised Bahrain as a “role model within the Arab world for coexistence and tolerance of various faith communities.”
Because the pope visited, activists shared video of a protest Friday south of Bahrain’s capital, Manama, ahead of the island’s parliamentary elections. The demonstrators waved banners calling on the general public to boycott the vote. They shared a picture of riot police being readily available, watching the protesters.