Pope Francis: Friendship and respect between religious traditions important

Pope Francis today emphasized the importance of the promotion of friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions during a meeting with ecumenical and interfaith leaders who had attended his inauguration Mass.

This meeting was preceded by private encounters with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and the Metropolitan Hilarion, the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations for the Patriarchate of Moscow.

Pope Francis began his remarks by thanking those present for wanting to be a part of the beginning of his ministry as Bishop of Rome, and successor of Peter. He said he had recognized the spiritual presence of the communities they represented, and “had the feeling of taking part in an even more urgent fashion in the prayer for the unity of all believers in Christ.”

He said the “personal and transforming relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died and rose for our salvation,” is essential for every Christian. He said the desire to proclaim this message is at the heart of the Second Vatican Council, which the Pope said was especially meaningful for the ecumenical journey.

“We ask the merciful Father to be able to fully live the faith that we have received as a gift on the day of our Baptism, and to be able to give our testimony freely, joyfully and courageously,” Pope Francis said. “The more we are faithful to His will - in thoughts, in words and in deeds - the more we will truly and substantially walk towards unity.”

Speaking to Jewish representatives, Pope Francis spoke of the “special spiritual bond” between Christians and Jews. He said he trusted the Church and the Jewish people can “continue that fruitful fraternal dialogue that the Council wished for, and that has actually accomplished much, has brought forth many fruits, especially during the last decades.”

He then spoke of the importance of interfaith dialogue.
“The Catholic Church is aware of the importance of the promotion of friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions,” said Pope Francis, repeating the sentence for emphasis.
“The Church is equally aware of the responsibility that each of us bring towards our world, and to the whole of creation, that we must love and protect,” the Pope continued. “And we can do a lot for the good of the less fortunate, for those who are weak and suffering, to promote justice, to promote reconciliation, to build peace.”
“But above all,” Pope Francis concluded. “We must keep alive in our world the thirst for the absolute, and must not allow the vision of the human person with a single dimension to prevail, according to which man is reduced to what he produces and to what he consumes: this is one of the most dangerous threats of our times.”
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