Kabul, 06 August 2013: "I read the Holy Father's message for the end of Ramadan, to
let Muslims know that the Church is close to their holy days, and hopes that the sentiments
expressed by Pope Francis coincide with those of the Islamic world", Fr. Giuseppe
Moretti told AsiaNews. The Italian native is parish priest of the only church in
Afghanistan, the mother church that - since its creation in the 1930s - has been housed
in the Italian Embassy in Kabul. The priest decided to read at Sunday Mass the Pope's
Message for the feast of ' Id al-Fitr, "which closes the holy month of Islam.
"The
faithful who come to church - said Fr. Moretti, who is in charge of the missio sui
iuris in Afghanistan - are almost all Westerners, because there are no Catholics here.
Instead of the homily I preferred to read them the text so they clearly understand
the churches viewpoint and in the hope that they would speak about it with their Afghan
and Muslims co-workers. "
In his message, Pope Francis emphasizes "the importance
of education in understanding one another, based on mutual respect," and starting
from this he invites Christians and Muslims to "respect the others religion, its teachings,
symbols and values".
"It's the first time - Fr. Moretti notes to AsiaNews -
a Pope has personally signed a Message for the end of Ramadan. This is important and
so I asked a local newspaper to publish the full text, hoping that it would understand
its beauty and originality. " However, the newspaper has devoted only a paragraph
to the message of the Pope. According to the priest, "there is some fear that publishing
a full text of the Holy Father - and therefore of the Catholic Church - may elicit
a reaction from fundamentalists. But it is a wish, a greeting, and I do not understand
why it should trigger such brutal reactions".
At the end of the Mass, Fr. Moretti
continues, "one parishoner pointed out to me that perhaps the Pope, in signing the
message himself, wanted to refer to St. Francis, who at the time of the Crusades went
to Egypt to meet the Sultan. Somehow, the figure of Francis is of profound relevance
to the Islamic world. "
The patrons of the mother church of Kabul are St. Catherine
and St. Francis, the latter depicted at the moment of his meeting with the Sultan.
Source: AsiaNews