by Filippo Boulila
AWLI, Bahrain (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Friday called on clergy to help pull the world back from “the brink” and to highlight opposition to a new arms race that, he said, was reshaping the spheres of influence of Cold War era.
Pope Francis spoke on the first full day of his visit to Bahrain, at the conclusion of a forum on dialogue between East and West under the patronage of the King of the country, which allows Christians – unlike Saudi Arabia – to publicly carry out their rites in churches.
The Pope’s visit to the Kingdom is part of his policy of improving relations with the Islamic world after his historic visit to Abu Dhabi in 2019, the first for a pope in the Arabian Peninsula. He has also visited a dozen Muslim-majority countries since he was chosen to head the Catholic Church in 2013.
Pope Francis, who suffers from knee pain that forces him to use a wheelchair and crutch, focused on the role of religions in promoting peace, disarmament and social justice.
“After two horrific world wars and a cold war in which the world has held its breath for decades, catastrophic conflicts are occurring in all regions of the world and, amidst accusations, threats and convictions, we are still on the verge of an abyss and we don’t want to fall, “he said.
In an apparent reference to Ukraine, Francis denounced a situation in which “some rulers are involved in an implacable struggle for partisan interests, in the revival of obsolete rhetoric and in the redesign of opposing spheres of influence and blocs”.
* Religions cannot support war
Pope Francis, who supports a total ban on nuclear weapons and often denounces the arms trade around the world, said religious leaders cannot support wars, a clear reference to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who gave enthusiastic support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was previously implicitly criticized by the Pope.
The king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, delivered a speech in the presence of Pope Francis, in which he asked for consent to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine and “the start of serious negotiations for the good of all. humanity”.
The Pope repeated the same appeal, as did Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, who in 2019 signed the Document on Human Fraternity, an important declaration on the role of religions in the search for peace.
The Pope condemned the financing of terrorism, without mentioning a specific country.
On Friday afternoon, the Pope addressed the Muslim Council of Elders in the courtyard of the Royal Palace mosque, where he praised Muslim leaders who “see extremism as a threat to the true religion” and called for greater dialogue between Islam and other religions.
“We must place a future of fraternity above a past of rivalry to overcome historical prejudices and misunderstandings in the name of the one who is the source of peace,” he said.
A boy recited a verse from the Koran while a girl read a passage from the Old Testament.
Pope Francis then led a mass in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, the largest church in the Arabian Peninsula and one of two churches that serve Bahrain’s small Catholic community of around 160,000 people.
The cathedral was built on land donated by the king, and one of his sons welcomed the pope when he came to the church.
On Saturday, the Pope will give a homily in the presence of around 30,000 people at the Bahrain National Stadium, before returning to Rome on Sunday.
