Pope, in Bahrain, asks interfaith support for peace, religious freedom
November 04, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: In a November 4 address to the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue, Pope Francis said that religious leaders have a key role to play in a world “on the brink of a delicate precipice.”
The Pope denounced all warfare, saying that world leaders who use advanced weaponry are like children playing with fire. He warned of dire consequences if we “persist in stubbornly imposing our own models and despotic, imperialist, nationalist, and populist visions.”
Instead, the Pope continued, people of all faiths should come together in prayer, pressing for peaceful resolution of conflicts.
That vision, the Pontiff continued, is based on “one essential premise, and that is religious freedom.” He praised the “Kingdom of Bahrain Declaration,” issued by King Hamad in 2017, for its support of religious tolerance and its insistence that “ignorance is the enemy of peace.”
In his talk the Pope delivered a potentially controversial challenge to his Muslim audience, calling for recognition of the rights of women “to education, to employment, and their freedom to exercise their social and political rights.” He also urged recognition of “children’s fundamental rights.”
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