Pope Francis endorses UAE high committee to promote ‘all persons who have faith’
On August 26th, the Pope expressed his appreciation of the new creation of a high committee, fulfilling goals from the Declaration of Human Fraternity, of which he was a signatory in February 2019.
At the interfaith meeting held in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, Pope Francis and the Great Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyib, signed a document promoting harmony calling, “all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sister”.
In late August 2019, the first steps have been taken, bringing together bishops, imams and cultural professionals to participate in inter-faith dialogue and promotion. The purpose of the committee is to “implement the shared vision of developing initiatives and ideas to foster tolerance, cooperation and coexistence”.
For Christians especially, this type of committee is seen as a potential avenue for acceptance and normality. Oftentimes the UAE is considered a model of religious freedom in the Arab world, though the focus tends to be on religious freedom of expats who comprise a large percentage of the population.
Pope Francis photo/donkeyhotey
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