Cooperation among faiths the new normal

This handout picture taken and released by the Vatican press office on May 23, 2016 shows Pope Francis (left) welcoming Egyptian Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed al-Tayeb (right) during a private audience at the Vatican. Pope Francis met the Grand Imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque at the Vatican in a historic encounter that was sealed with a hugely symbolic hug and exchange of kisses. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Al-Azhar Mosque and University, Sheikh Al Tayyeb’s citadel, is the stronghold of the Sunni sect and is regarded as the ideological stronghold of Islam.

  • Media have widely quoted Pope as saying “the meeting is the message” of their encounter.

  • Last Monday’s meeting, which reportedly discussed world peace, violence, and terrorism, thus advances what Pope Francis stands for.

Pope Francis’ historic meeting with the Grand Imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque and University has the hallmarks of what has earned him the moniker “Pope of Surprises”.

Besides kissing his guest and their embracing each other, there is scant detail of the Monday, May 23 meeting that lasted some 30 minutes.

However, the encounter should go a long way towards sealing the deep rift between Muslims and Catholics, which widened during Pope Benedict’s reign.

Indeed, inclusivity might be the middle name of the first Pope from the South, whose pontificate has been marked by numerous firsts.

Last month, the Pope, in response to the migrant crisis, brought to the Vatican 12 Muslim Syrian refugees from the Greek island of Lesbos, in a gesture news agency, AFP, described as “the most dramatic piece of political theatre of his papacy”.

Al-Azhar Mosque and University, Sheikh Al Tayyeb’s citadel, is the stronghold of the Sunni sect and is regarded as the ideological stronghold of Islam.

Media have widely quoted Pope as saying “the meeting is the message” of their encounter.

There may be as many interpretations as interpreters on what exactly the Pope meant.

However, given the widespread furore his predecessor caused when he seemed to associate Islam with violence in a lecture he delivered at Regensburg University in his native Germany on September 12, 2006, “the message can be viewed as a reconciliation gesture”.

A planned peace conference of the Vatican and Al-Azhar is further testimony to this.

The press was accused of quoting Pope Benedict out of context, noting that the offending words were reproduced from a statement by a Byzantine emperor back in 1391.

The Pope apologised to Muslims, but maintained that the words associating Islam with evil and accusing Mohamed of spreading “by the sword the faith he preached”, were not his.

But the ensuing protests and demonstrations widened the rift between Muslims and Catholics.

It is ironic that Pope Benedict’s lecture caused such uproar, given that apart from the objectionable quote, the lecture was hailed as “the most important papal statement on world affairs since John Paul II’s 1995 address to the United Nations”.

John Paul II made history when he became the first Pope to enter a mosque.

The visit to Damascus, Syria, was viewed as a meaningful gesture towards Islam, which Syria’s top Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro, described  as “an occasion that goes beyond history”, which would “begin the process of putting peace to work in the world”.

Last Monday’s meeting, which reportedly discussed world peace, violence, and terrorism, thus advances what Pope Francis stands for.

During his Kenyan visit, he placed outgoing Anglican Church Archbishop Eliud Wabukala and Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims chairman, Prof Abdulghafur El-Busaidy, high up in his remarks during an ecumenical and inter-religious meeting he addressed.

It would seem that a member of that ecumenical and inter-religious delegation, Presbyterian Elder Solomon Gacece, took note. As chairman of the International Ecumenical Movement- Kenya Chapter, which is holding a three-day conference starting yesterday at Tangaza University College, Lang’ata, Mr Gacece has invited a Muslim leader from Uganda to speak.

Ecumenism, a Christian principal for uniting different churches and embracing other religions seems the way to go.

During his audience with Kenya’s religious leaders, the Pope called God a God of peace, whose “holy name must never be used to justify hate and violence.”

Ms Kweyu is a freelance writer and consulting editor. [email protected].