Abu Dhabi: Pope Francis and a top Muslim cleric have issued a joint call for freedom of belief during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam – the Arabian Peninsula.
Pope Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of his papacy, is on an historic three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Monday, the pope held talks here with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb – Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s prestigious seat of learning.
The two religious leaders signed a document on ‘human fraternity for world peace and living together’, described by the Vatican as an ‘important step forward in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims’.
They called for ‘freedom of belief’, the ‘promotion of a culture of tolerance’, the ‘protection of places of worship’ and ‘full citizenship’ rights for minorities.
“It is… crucial to establish in our societies the concept of full citizenship and reject the discriminatory use of the term ‘minorities’ which engenders feelings of isolation and inferiority,” read the jointly-signed document.
“Freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the freedom of belief, thought, expression and action and that pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God. The fact that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept,” the statement added.
The UAE and neighbouring Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-linked rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. The pope said all religious leaders had a ‘duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war’. “I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya,” he said while addressing a gathering here.
AFP