ASIA/AFGHANISTAN - Pope Francis: "One cannot invoke God’s name to foment contempt, hatred and violence towards others"

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "One cannot invoke God’s name to foment contempt, hatred and violence towards others," said Pope Francis this morning before the General Audience in the Audience Hall during a meeting with a delegation from the Afghan Community Association in Italy.

With regard to the Asian country, the Pope recalled that in recent decades Afghanistan "has had a complicated and dramatic history, marked by a succession of wars and blood-stained conflicts. Instability, warfare with all its destruction and death, internal divisions and the barriers to respecting certain fundamental rights have pushed many to take the path of exile."

Afghan society, the Pope stressed, and indeed of Pakistani society "are made up of many peoples, each proud of their culture, traditions and unique way of life". But "this clear diversity, instead of being an opportunity for promoting a basic common denominator for protecting the characteristics and rights of each group, is sometimes used as a reason for discrimination and exclusion, if not outright persecution." And yet, the Pope warns, "the religious factor, by its very nature, should help soften the harshness of contrasts and create space for everyone to be granted full citizenship rights on an equal footing and without discrimination." "Yet oftentimes religion is manipulated and instrumentalized, and ends up being used for contrary ends. In such cases, religion becomes a factor of confrontation and hatred, which can lead to violent acts. I encourage you to continue in your noble endeavour to promote religious harmony and to strive to overcome misunderstandings between different religions in order to build paths of trusting dialogue and peace. This is no easy journey, which sometimes suffers setbacks; but, if you truly wish to do good for the community and foster peace."

In this context, the Pope also recalled his trip to the Central African Republic in November 2015: "I was with the Catholic community and I also went to visit the Islamic community, and prayed in their mosque. This included a meeting with the leaders, and the mosque was just in front of us, so I asked, “May I go and pray there?” They were not expecting it. They replied, “yes”, so I took off my shoes and went to pray there. Then the head of the community joined me in the Popemobile and we went to visit all the communities, Islamic, Protestant and Catholic. This is what brings unity, it unites us so much."

Referring to the document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, signed in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019, the Pope concludes: "it is my fervent hope that these standards will become a common heritage and so influence people’s thinking and behaviour, so that the principles are not only appreciated and shared in an abstract way, but concretely and effectively applied. If this happens, the discrimination against the Pashtun ethnic group in Pakistan, which your Association has not failed to point out, will also come to an end. Likewise, a new era can begin, in which the power of law, compassion and cooperation in mutual respect will give rise to a more just and humane civilization."

"May the Almighty and Merciful God," Pope Francis concluded, "assist government leaders and peoples in building a society where all are accorded full citizenship with equal rights; where everyone can live according to their own customs and culture, within a framework that takes into account the rights of all, without abuses of power or discrimination". (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 7/8/2024)

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