AWALI, Bahrain, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Pope Francis appealed to religious leaders on Friday to help lead the world back from a “delicate precipice” and oppose a new race that he said was re-engineering Cold War-era environments. influence.
Francis was speaking on his first full day in Bahrain as he closed a forum on East-West dialogue backed by the Gulf nation’s king, which has allowed Christians to practice their faith openly in churches.
This visit continues the policy of improving relations with the Islamic world after the Pope’s historic visit to Abu Dhabi in 2019. Since he was elected in 2013, he has visited about 10 Muslim countries.
Francis, who suffers from knee pain that forces him to use a wheelchair and cane, spoke in his speech about the role of religions in promoting peace, disarmament and social justice.
“After two terrible world wars, the cold war that has kept the world in a state of uncertainty for decades, catastrophic conflicts in all corners of the globe and accusations, threats and accusations, we still find ourselves on a delicate cliff and we do not listen,” he said at the royal palace. in the shining marble courtyard.
Apparently referring to Ukraine, Francis condemned the situation in which “several potentates are resolutely fighting for partisan interests, reviving outdated rhetoric and reworking spheres of influence and opposing blocs.”
RELIGION CANNOT MAKE WAR AGAIN
Francis, who supports a total ban on nuclear weapons and often condemns the global arms trade, said religious leaders cannot support wars – a reference to Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has enthusiastically supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is now Pope. previously criticized indirectly.
Speaking before the pope, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa called for a unanimous end to the war between Russia and Ukraine and for “serious dialogue for the benefit of all humanity.”
The Pope supported the call, and the third speaker, Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyeb, chief imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque and University, signatory to the 2019 Brotherhood of Man document, signed an important manifesto on the role of religions in the pursuit of peace. .
Without naming any country, Francis also condemned the financing of terrorism.
On Friday afternoon, he was due to address Bahrain’s Council of Muslim Elders and then preside over a service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, one of two churches serving Bahrain’s small Catholic community of about 160,000.
Francis spoke out against the death penalty in Bahrain when he arrived on Thursday, where the Shiite Muslim opposition accused the Sunni monarchy of overseeing human rights abuses, and the families of those sentenced to death appealed for help from the pontiff.
Report by Philip Pullella; Edited by John Stonestreet
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