Regional Interfaith Dialogue, Connecting and Cooperating for Peace and Harmony In the Asia-Pacific region
Pope Francis gave one message to the International Interreligious Peace Meeting, with the theme ‘Paths of Peace,’ taking place Sept. 10-12 in Münster Germany. The Meeting is organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio and the Dioceses of Münster and Osnabrück. The Transcript of the Message is provided by Vatican Press Office.
Pope Francis greeted the representatives of the Conference of European Rabbis, of the Rabbinical Council of America and of the Commission of the Grand Rabbinate of Israel, in dialogue with the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism, with Professor Riccardo di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome, on Thursday, August 31, 2017.
Pope Francis has released the text of his message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The theme of the message is “Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating migrants and refugees”.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a letter to the 30th Prayer Meeting on Mount Hiei in Kyoto, Japan, inviting all religions to “pray and work together for peace”.
Following the 2nd Anniversary of his historic environmental encyclical, Pope Francis endorsed the Laudato Si’ Pledge campaign, which was also supported by many other Church leaders. Through the Pledge, the Global Catholic Climate Movement aims to mobilize at least 1 million Catholics to become directly engaged in turning Laudato Si into action to care for the planet.
“Following the previous Agreement of May 28, 1998, and in the light of addresses of Pope Francis and of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Mohamed al-Tayyeb during the historic peace conference at Cairo last April 28, the common engagement is express to pursue the shared reflections, geared to promoting a fruitful and effective inter-religious dialogue, centered in particular on the promotion of peace and the building of a more just world.”
“It’s important, because my religious life was enriched by his explanations to him, it was extraordinarily enriched, and I suppose his with mine”: by these words, spoken in Spanish, on turning to his Argentine friend, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, who spoke just after him, Pope Francis witnesses in a worldwide video-message of religions, inviting the man and woman of the street to “to make friends” with all religions.
People of all faiths are unifying globally to deliver faith-based action on climate change
The Vatican’s dicastery for Interfaith and Interreligious Dialogue has been meeting on the topic of the role of women in interfaith and inter-religious activity. (In practice, at the local and grassroots level, women are centre and front of interfaith efforts, including dialogue.) Here, we bring you the address of Pope Francis to this plenary meeting of the dicastery.
While speaking to an international conference on peace at Al-Azhar, the highest theological and religious institution of Sunni Islam in the world and the oldest Islamic University, alongside its Grand Imam, Pope Francis said this, noting: “Above all and especially in our day, the religions are called to respect this imperative, since, for all our need of the Absolute, it is essential that we reject any “absolutizing” that would justify violence.”