The Daily Star, March 22, 2013
 |
| Pope Francis takes part in his inaugural mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 19, 2013. REUTERS/Paul Hanna |
VATICAN
CITY: Pope Francis on Friday called for the Roman Catholic Church to
"intensify" its dialogue with Islam, echoing hopes in the Muslim
world for better ties with the Vatican during his reign.
"It is
important to intensify dialogue among the various religions and I am thinking
particularly of dialogue with Islam," the new pontiff said in an address
to foreign ambassadors at the Vatican.
Francis's
predecessor Benedict XVI was seen by some Muslim leaders as hostile to Islam
and the change at the top had been welcomed by the 57-member Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation and Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.
Ekmeleddin
Ihsanoglu, head of the Saudi-based OIC, said earlier this month that he hoped
"the relationship between Islam and Christianity will regain its
cordiality and sincere friendship".
Mahmud
Azab, adviser for inter-faith affairs to Al-Azhar imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb in
Cairo, also told AFP earlier: "As soon as a new policy emerges, we will
resume the dialogue with the Vatican".
Al-Azhar
broke off ties in 2011 after Benedict called for the protection of Christian
minorities following a suicide bombing at a church in Egypt.
Benedict
was also heavily criticised early in his reign when he recounted a Byzantine
emperor's description of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed as a warmonger who spread
evil teachings.
In his
address on Friday, Francis also called for the Church to dialogue more with
non-believers -- returning to an effort begun during Benedict's reign amid
rising secularism in the Western world.
"It is
also important to intensify outreach to non-believers so that the differences
which divide and hurt us may never prevail but rather the desire to build true
links of friendship," he said.
The
Argentine Pope said he wanted to "build bridges connecting all
people" and said this was particularly significant for him personally
because of his own Italian immigrant roots.
"This
dialogue between places and cultures a great distance apart matters greatly to
me," he said.
Francis
referred to it as a "dialogue between one end of the world and the other,
which today are growing ever closer, more interdependent".
The
76-year-old Pope elected last week has named himself after St Francis of Assisi
-- a mediaeval Italian saint who shunned riches to live a life of poverty, and
he said he wanted the Church to struggle against poverty in all its forms.
"How
many poor people there still are in the world!" he said, adding that there
was also a "spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called
rich countries particularly seriously".
In a
further indication of the humble image he has projected ever since being
elected last Wednesday, the Pope earlier on Thursday celebrated a mass for
Vatican gardeners and rubbish collectors.
The Vatican
said earlier he will hold a special pre-Easter mass next week in a youth prison
during which he will wash the feet of 12 young offenders in a traditional
Catholic ritual representing Jesus Christ's actions with his 12 apostles.
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.