Pope Francis’ hold forth marked a definite shift within the Catholic Church’s engagement with the Muslim global. Whilst his predecessors fostered discussion and tolerance, Francis sought extra energetic engagement with Muslims, in particular within the Heart East.
Francis framed his efforts across the “culture of encounter,” which he defined in a 2016 morning meditation. Drawing inspiration from the Gospel of Luke, Bankruptcy 7, he famous that this means was once about “active engagement” quite than passive commentary. He recommended folks to include Jesus via “not just seeing, but looking; not just hearing, but listening; not just passing people by, but stopping with them.”
In my 2025 e-book “Beyond Dialogue – Building Bonds Between Christians and Muslims,” I rigidity the significance of transferring past mere tolerance to collaboration so that you can interact with non secular variety − one thing that Francis demonstrated in his interfaith discussion efforts with Muslim nations.
Francis in Iraq after IS destruction
In 2021, Francis visited areas in Iraq as soon as held via the Islamic State, or IS. This was once the primary papal consult with to the rustic. He held plenty in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan area of Iraq, and he addressed a meeting within the courtyard of the Al-Tahera church, the hub of the Syriac Catholic inhabitants in Mosul. The historical 18th-century church was once partly destroyed via IS all over its career of the town from 2014 to 2017. An estimated 5,000 Christians have been killed and a few 125,000 displaced in Iraq all over that point.
Iraqis submit a poster with Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the chief of Iraqi Shiite Muslims, in Najaf, Iraq, on March 4, 2021.
AP Picture/Anmar Khalil
At Church Sq. in Mosul, the place there are 4 church buildings, Francis prayed for the sufferers of the war and known as for harmonious coexistence between Christians and Muslims. He additionally invited displaced Christians to go back to their houses and praised the younger Iraqi volunteers – each Christians and Muslims – running facet via facet to rebuild the church buildings and mosques destroyed via IS.
As well as, he convened an interreligious amassing in Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, a prophet respected via Jews, Christians and Muslims.
His movements no longer simplest introduced in combination Christians and Muslims but additionally helped ruin down stereotypes.
The yr of tolerance
In 2019 he visited the United Arab Emirates, marking the primary papal consult with to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. The consult with coincided with the Emirati govt proclaiming 2019 the 12 months of Tolerance, selling coexistence, variety and recognize.
Right through his consult with in Abu Dhabi in 2019, Francis celebrated a historical Catholic Mass in Zayed Sports activities Town, drawing 180,000 attendees from over 100 nations, for which the UAE govt declared a distinct vacation.
This exceptional match challenged unfavourable Western stereotypes concerning the Arabian Peninsula’s non secular intolerance. The UAE Charter, as an example, promises non secular freedom to all other folks, albeit with restrictions on proselytization amongst non-Islamic communities. It additionally presented a counternarrative of harmony between Christians and Muslims in a area incessantly seen thru a lens of non secular strife and struggle.
Francis’ consult with to the UAE additionally culminated in some an important interfaith projects. In Abu Dhabi, Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar College, Ahmed El-Tayeb, cosigned the record on Human Fraternity for International Peace and Dwelling In combination. The record stresses the want to paintings in combination to advertise a “culture of reciprocal respect.” Whilst the Emirati president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, did indirectly signal the record, he supported the interfaith projects that adopted Francis’ go back and forth.
This record resulted in the putting in of the Upper Committee of Human Fraternity, a collaborative challenge of a various teams of educational, cultural and non secular leaders and entities from world wide. The committee created the Human Fraternity Training and Management for Peace program, a world early life motion. It additionally labored with the United International locations Common Meeting to designate Feb. 4 because the World Day of Human Fraternity.
The Upper Committee of Human Fraternity additionally guided the development of the Abrahamic Circle of relatives Space in Abu Dhabi, a shared house for a church, mosque and synagogue that opened in 2023.
I had the chance to wait the outlet rite of the Abrahamic Circle of relatives Space in 2023. It was once a memorable enjoy. A Christian lady, a Muslim boy and Jewish boy each and every introduced a dice representing each and every space of worship to the middle platform of the discussion board and positioned them facet via facet at the floor. The straightforward act reflected the architectural design of the Abrahamic Circle of relatives Space via bringing the summary idea of interfaith unity to lifestyles in a concrete and relatable method. The Emirati early life equipped a glimpse into what a tolerant long run may seem like.
Historical past of Catholic-Muslim family members
The nearest ancient comparability to the Report on Human Fraternity is the Nostra Aetate, a declaration from the 2nd Vatican Council of 1965, when main reforms have been initiated within the Catholic Church.
Nostra Aetate marked a turning level within the Catholic Church’s family members with Islam and all non-Christian traditions. After a historical past of war, restricted certain engagement and mutual suspicion, it emphasised unity, discussion and recognize with Islam.
Then again, the Report on Human Fraternity went additional. For starters, it was once a joint declaration with outstanding Muslim leaders, signifying a deeper dedication to Christian-Muslim partnership, while Nostra Aetate was once an inside Catholic record. The record known as for grassroot actions, pointing to a extra action-oriented solution to Christian and Muslim family members. For the reason that it was once signed via the pope, it held affect inside the Vatican management and amongst liberal cardinals. Its core rules are being built-in into pastoral projects and interreligious discussion on the nationwide and global ranges.
Francis’ solution to Christian-Muslim discussion differed significantly from his predecessors. Whilst Pope John Paul II excited by highbrow trade and theological discussion, Francis emphasised that they have been inadequate on their very own. In flip, he prioritized direct motion and private engagement with others as a method to a deeper figuring out of the opposite.
Pope Benedict XVI, regardless of his dedication to discussion, confronted demanding situations because of remarks that outraged Muslims international. Right through his Regensburg deal with in 2006, he discussed a medieval discussion attributed to Manuel II Palaiologus, the Byzantine emperor who reigned from 1391 to 1425, a length of rising energy of the Ottoman Empire. Manuel II had criticized the concept that of jihad in Islam and referred to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, as “evil” and “inhuman.” Whilst Benedict many times emphasised that he was once quoting Manuel II’s perspectives at the dating between religion and explanation why and no longer for my part endorsing the emperor’s evaluation of Islam, the pope’s feedback have been perceived as disrespectful towards the Islamic religion and its prophet.
Upon Francis’ loss of life, the president of the UAE – Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan – described him as “a symbol of human fraternity, cultural coexistence and interfaith dialogue,” including that he impressed “future generations in upholding the values of tolerance and mutual understanding.”
Francis’ gestures of unity, private relationships and widespread visits to Muslim nations, I consider, laid a tangible basis to transport past discussion and towards human fraternity.
