Saturday, August 03, 2013
In a demonstration of what the Vatican spokesman called Pope Francis’
“particular attention to relations with the Muslim world,” the pope on
Friday personally signed the Holy See message for Muslims at the end of
Ramadan, calling for “mutual respect through education” between
Christianity and Islam.
“We are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its
symbols, its values,” Francis wrote in a statement distributed by the
Holy See.
“We have to bring up our young people to think and speak respectfully of
other religions and their followers,” said the message, which stressed
the enhanced role that education must play in building respect for
different religions and the need “to avoid ridiculing or denigrating
their convictions and practices.”
“As an expression of esteem and friendship for all Muslims,” Francis
decided to personally sign his good wishes to Muslims worldwide on the
feast of Id al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, a month of
prayer and fasting. Historically, the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue has delivered the message on behalf of the Holy
See. The last pope to send a personal message to Muslims was John Paul
II in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war in 1991.
“It’s not the first time that a pontiff has signed the message by his
own hand,” the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said. “But
it certainly shows Francis’ particular attention to relations with the
Muslim world.”
In 2006, Francis’ predecessor as pope, Benedict XVI, upset Muslims when
he quoted a Byzantine emperor who called Islam “evil and inhuman.”
Muslims in many countries took to the streets in protest, and an Italian
nun was killed in Somalia. Benedict later apologized, and the Holy See
was very careful in avoiding any similar remarks.
Francis, who chose the name of the saint known as the “universal
brother,” with strong ties to Islam, has always been quite attentive to
interreligious dialogue. Meeting religious leaders from all over the
world in March, the pope promised friendship, respect and dialogue among
men and women of different religious traditions, and expressed special
gratitude to the Muslim leaders who had come to salute him at the
beginning of his papacy.
In his first address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See,
Francis stressed the importance of intensifying dialogue among the
various faiths, “particularly dialogue with Islam.”