Pope Francis and the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Alzhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb on Monday met in Abu Dhabi, embraced each other and called for peace. The two religious leaders signed a statement with their hopes for world peace and human understanding.
The document was signed in the name of “all victims of wars, persecution and injustice; and those tortured in any part of the world, without distinction”.
It said: “We resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood.”
The grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque and university, called on the Muslims in West Asia to “embrace” local Christian communities while telling the Christians that they are “citizens of this nation with full rights and responsibilities”.
“Continue to embrace your brothers the Christian citizens everywhere, for they are our partners in our nation,” said the grand imam, who is the highest seat of learning in Sunni Islam.
Pope Francis also called for full religious freedom in the Muslim- majority region, where restrictions are placed on non-Muslim expressions of faith. To promote “concrete paths of peace” people of different religions will have to come together, he said.
The Pope’s shuttle diplomacy mission to unite all of the world’s religion has been a tremendous success and this photo just proves how close of ties he has built with even a religion one wouldn’t have expected.
But when you dig deeper, you start to learn of the even more closer ties the Catholic church has with the Muslims. And with Ecumenism now a global affair, the Revelations of John come even more truer, that the beast shall be given more power.
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