Like millions of people throughout the world I followed the funeral of Pope Francis on television this morning with a sad heart but grateful for his inspiration and vision of what the world could be if only we believed in human fraternity and solidarity. There was all the colour, pomp and ceremony of the Catholic Church but at its centre was a simple wooden coffin of a man who simply loved people, who accepted them as they were while not being afraid to call them to be even better. At the heart of his message was love, hope, justice, tenderness, joy and people of all walks of life and all religions responded positively, seeing him as a beacon of hope in a dark and troubled world.
I met him once. It was at a conference in Rome, organised by the International Council of Christians and Jews to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document on the Church’s Relationship with Non-Christian Religions, a title we would not use today, having learnt to describe other faiths in a more positive light. It was a full programme and included a papal audience. We were directed to leave empty the first row or so when we got to the audience room as those were or the organising committee who would be presented to the Pope. Just before the Pope arrived we were told that the Pope would meet everyone and so much to our delight 175 of us queued up to greet him and shake his hand. He greeted each one as though he was pleased to see him or her and it felt like a real if brief encounter. I have heard from others that he was in the habit of doing this when other delegations had a papal audience. No doubt this kind of action made life more difficult for those organising his diary and timetable and got him the reputation of being a kind of maverick.
I have received letters of condolences from friends in all faiths, expressing their sorrow at his death and their appreciation of what he did for peace and interfaith dialogue. Some spoke movingly about this. The Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society wrote “Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis demonstrated a remarkable openness to dialogue with other faith traditions. His sincere outreach to the Muslim world, and his vision of fraternity among all peoples, have left a deep impression upon our communities. We in the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society and broadly, the Shi’i community remember especially his unwavering commitment to building bridges of understanding and his repeated calls for peace, mercy, and human dignity... May God grant him eternal rest, and may his example continue to illuminate the path of those who lead in faith.”
And Ahl al-Bayt Scotland “From the perspective of the Ahl al-Bayt tradition, we recognize and honour leadership that is rooted in service, humility, and moral clarity. His Holiness exemplified these virtues with sincerity and steadfast dedication. His enduring efforts to uplift the marginalized, to promote social justice, and to foster dialogue across cultures and faiths have left an indelible mark on the hearts of countless people around the globe….His life was a testament to the belief that true leadership is not exercised through power, but through presence—not through dominion, but through dialogue. He reached across divides with open hands and an open heart, embodying the very values we strive to uphold in our own tradition and in our shared pursuit of unity and understanding….May his memory be a guiding light, and may his example continue to inspire efforts toward reconciliation, compassion, and justice in our communities and beyond”.
Pope Francis’ commitment to interfaith relations rested on a firm commitment to dialogue as a way of life, respect for all, abiding friendships, a vision of human fraternity and harmony and a conviction that “it is an urgently needed and incomparable service to humanity, to the praise and glory of the Creator of all.”
He made history when in 2014 he invited his friends from Argentina, Rabbi Skorka, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, and Muslim leader Omar Abboud, to accompany him as part of the official delegation to the Middle East which included Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. They were also present in the Vatican Garden when President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas, responding to the Pope’s invitation on that trip, came together to pray with the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew for peace in that land that many faiths call holy.
His visit to Abu Dabhi in 2019 was the first visit of a Pope to the Arabian Peninsula. He went there as a pilgrim of peace following in the footsteps of his namesake Francis of Assisi who had met the Sultan al-Malik al Kamil 800 years ago during the Fifth Crusade. At a meeting of Muslim elders on 4th February 2019 Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, Ahmed el-Tayeb co-signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together which declared the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path to peace. This has become an important document and in 2020 the United Nations designated the 4th of February as the International Day of Human Fraternity. Pope Francis had first met Ahmed el-Tayeb in the Vatican in 2016, an event which overcame the tension that had existed between Al-Azhar and the Vatican since Pope Benedict’s Regensburg lecture in 2006 and which began a friendship between the two men which gave birth to the Human Fraternity document and influenced the writing of his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.
Fratelli Tutti is a testament to Pope Francis’ desire for harmony. It begins and ends with a reference to Islam through the stories of Francis of Assisi and Charles de Foucauld. It promotes interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding and prays that God, the Father of our human family, may inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, dialogue, justice and peace. Pope Francis was a shining example of that wherever he went. May his memory and the memory of his dream for our world be a continued blessing and example to us all.
I met him once. It was at a conference in Rome, organised by the International Council of Christians and Jews to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document on the Church’s Relationship with Non-Christian Religions, a title we would not use today, having learnt to describe other faiths in a more positive light. It was a full programme and included a papal audience. We were directed to leave empty the first row or so when we got to the audience room as those were or the organising committee who would be presented to the Pope. Just before the Pope arrived we were told that the Pope would meet everyone and so much to our delight 175 of us queued up to greet him and shake his hand. He greeted each one as though he was pleased to see him or her and it felt like a real if brief encounter. I have heard from others that he was in the habit of doing this when other delegations had a papal audience. No doubt this kind of action made life more difficult for those organising his diary and timetable and got him the reputation of being a kind of maverick.
I have received letters of condolences from friends in all faiths, expressing their sorrow at his death and their appreciation of what he did for peace and interfaith dialogue. Some spoke movingly about this. The Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society wrote “Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis demonstrated a remarkable openness to dialogue with other faith traditions. His sincere outreach to the Muslim world, and his vision of fraternity among all peoples, have left a deep impression upon our communities. We in the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society and broadly, the Shi’i community remember especially his unwavering commitment to building bridges of understanding and his repeated calls for peace, mercy, and human dignity... May God grant him eternal rest, and may his example continue to illuminate the path of those who lead in faith.”
And Ahl al-Bayt Scotland “From the perspective of the Ahl al-Bayt tradition, we recognize and honour leadership that is rooted in service, humility, and moral clarity. His Holiness exemplified these virtues with sincerity and steadfast dedication. His enduring efforts to uplift the marginalized, to promote social justice, and to foster dialogue across cultures and faiths have left an indelible mark on the hearts of countless people around the globe….His life was a testament to the belief that true leadership is not exercised through power, but through presence—not through dominion, but through dialogue. He reached across divides with open hands and an open heart, embodying the very values we strive to uphold in our own tradition and in our shared pursuit of unity and understanding….May his memory be a guiding light, and may his example continue to inspire efforts toward reconciliation, compassion, and justice in our communities and beyond”.
Pope Francis’ commitment to interfaith relations rested on a firm commitment to dialogue as a way of life, respect for all, abiding friendships, a vision of human fraternity and harmony and a conviction that “it is an urgently needed and incomparable service to humanity, to the praise and glory of the Creator of all.”
He made history when in 2014 he invited his friends from Argentina, Rabbi Skorka, rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, and Muslim leader Omar Abboud, to accompany him as part of the official delegation to the Middle East which included Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. They were also present in the Vatican Garden when President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas, responding to the Pope’s invitation on that trip, came together to pray with the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew for peace in that land that many faiths call holy.
His visit to Abu Dabhi in 2019 was the first visit of a Pope to the Arabian Peninsula. He went there as a pilgrim of peace following in the footsteps of his namesake Francis of Assisi who had met the Sultan al-Malik al Kamil 800 years ago during the Fifth Crusade. At a meeting of Muslim elders on 4th February 2019 Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, Ahmed el-Tayeb co-signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together which declared the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path to peace. This has become an important document and in 2020 the United Nations designated the 4th of February as the International Day of Human Fraternity. Pope Francis had first met Ahmed el-Tayeb in the Vatican in 2016, an event which overcame the tension that had existed between Al-Azhar and the Vatican since Pope Benedict’s Regensburg lecture in 2006 and which began a friendship between the two men which gave birth to the Human Fraternity document and influenced the writing of his encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.
Fratelli Tutti is a testament to Pope Francis’ desire for harmony. It begins and ends with a reference to Islam through the stories of Francis of Assisi and Charles de Foucauld. It promotes interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding and prays that God, the Father of our human family, may inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, dialogue, justice and peace. Pope Francis was a shining example of that wherever he went. May his memory and the memory of his dream for our world be a continued blessing and example to us all.
RSS Feed
