The Call for an Inter-Connectedness of Faith
By Odelia Mathews
As I begin to pen my thoughts on the importance of inter-faith dialogue, Pope Francis is undergoing surgery, the Israel-Palestine tensions continue to escalate, Lebanon reports an acute crisis marking one year since the Beirut blasts, the celebrations of Pride month in June have sparked hate crimes against the LGBTQ communities with the murder of a 24-year-old in Spain, and Fr. Stan Swamy a Jesuit priest has breathed his last after spending his life fighting for the lowest caste in India, thanks to a government that did not see his true sacrifice for the neglected and the impoverished.
Scrolling through social media and news feeds, it is evident that our world is plunged in a darkness – a darkness where politics negatively impact religious freedom and revenge consumes people. With many joining social activism and using their platforms to raise voices against injustices of all sorts, it is essential, now more than ever before, for us to look at the importance, significance, and the healing power of faith. During such a time when humanity screams for a chance to survive, we are all called to holiness to look out for our brothers and sisters, regardless of their religious calling and this is where the inter-connectedness of faith comes into play.
In the midst of an ongoing pandemic where lives are lost across all corners of the world, the human race hangs with a dark cloud above it. The Israel-Palestine situation has ignited an awakening to the pain and suffering of people who have been silenced by power for decades now. The morality of life hangs on a thread as voices rise to force political leaders to recognize injustice in every form. These voices are holding people in authority and power accountable. What then can we do, as by-standers, witnessing blood shed between age-old rivalries and borders, between religion and race, between the privileged and the poor, between the queer and the straight, between refugees and nationals and between the corrupted and the innocent?
Here are 5 key lessons we can adopt as global citizens united by the human fraternity of faith, peace and hope as outlined during Pope Francis’ historical visit to the Arabian Peninsula in 2019.
1) Dialogue, Inclusion & Tolerance
One of the most significant outcomes of recent times over matters that divide political opinions, religious views, and freedom of choice is that of dialogue. When Pope Francis visited the UAE in February 2019, the dialogue on the Inter-connectedness of Faith was established as a joint declaration between two great religious leaders, Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb, with the Document on Human Fraternity becoming the first declaration of its kind in history. Together, both leaders have emphasized the importance of religion and its place in world peace with the UAE playing a central role in cementing the work required for the singular goal of dialogue, inclusion and tolerance by establishing the Abrahamic Family House due to open in 2022 in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. Three prominent religions will come together in this new place to share common values held between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam where three main buildings - a mosque, a church, and a synagogue - will serve to become a place for education, prayer and dialogue.
While the world stands divided over many issues, Pope Francis demonstrates that faith is in what we do; not what we preach. When he kissed the feet of the South Sudan leaders during a spiritual retreat and begged them to dialogue through their differences for the sake of the people – their people, he put faith into action – an action that bore fruit. This unexpected gesture caused the civil war in Sudan which began in 2013 and left 400,000 people dead, to come to an end. Through the inspirational example of these world leaders, the document of human fraternity paves the way for people from every faith and religion to witness and promote the importance of peace, tolerance, and acceptance. What is particularly noteworthy is the humility with which Pope Francis acted with. Recalling the washing of the feet by Jesus which is celebrated every year by Catholics on Holy Thursday in remembrance of the passion of Christ, this gesture is a great example for us to remember that we are all called to forgive and wash each other’s feet clean, and to embrace the dignity and true identity of people as a creation of God, without looking at the saint or sinner, leader or civilian, president or prison mate.
2) Loving without Borders or Limits
In Fratelli Tutti, an encyclical letter on Fraternity, Pope Francis talks about new forms of slavery, a throw-away culture that we have all grown accustomed to, moral deterioration and a weakening of spiritual values. Looking deeper into these trends that have exponentially risen over the digital age, especially with social activism, it is imperative to realize that with freedom comes great responsibility and this responsibility lies with each of us. As much as we use our voices and our social platforms to raise awareness, speak up against injustice and unite with the rest of the world over important matters that either anger or spur us to react, let us also remember to be mindful citizens who uphold the dignity of the human person, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or religion. For this attitude to flourish we must look beyond borders and limitations, the dangers of stereotyping or adopting a fanatic attitude towards others, and from becoming resentful against those who misuse freedom, abuse power, and neglect responsibility. In the words of Pope Francis, the vision is made clear to achieve this goal:
“It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Fraternity between all men and women. “Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure. No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together”. Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.” (Fratelli Tutti, 8)
As hard as it may be for all of humanity to dream together, it remains the key to world peace because it is in loving others, lived out through a life of sacrifice, patience, tolerance, understanding and forgiveness that we are able to reveal who we truly are. Without each other, we would be unable to appreciate diversity, difference, variety, and the nuances that come with cultural differences and the beauty of freedom and faith.
3) Extending Hospitality
Hospitality is an extraordinary way of opening ourselves to others and encountering people, as they are. Social friendship and hospitality go together when it comes to welcoming, not just friends and neighbors, but also the marginalized, thereby erasing racism and welcoming others who are less fortunate. When we make hospitality part of our personality and lifestyle, we can bring people together in respect, tolerance and patience, including the differently abled, the minority and the brother or sister from another faith – as long as we are able to identify our neighbor. The greatest commandment of love by Jesus is: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The parable of the good Samaritan helps us identify our neighbor, reminding us to forget cultural differences, caste systems, race or religion, and allows us to embrace humanity as citizens of the world, without judgement.
“The spiritual stature of a person’s life is measured by love, which in the end remains “the criterion for the definitive decision about a human life’s worth or lack thereof”. Yet some believers think that it consists in the imposition of their own ideologies upon everyone else, or in a violent defense of the truth, or in impressive demonstrations of strength. All of us, as believers, need to recognize that love takes first place: love must never be put at risk, and the greatest danger lies in failing to love (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-13). (Fratelli Tutti, 92)
When others encounter difficulties or misfortune, it automatically becomes an opportunity for us to practice and extend our hospitality towards them, and therein we can find the answer to the question: Who is my neighbor? Following the parable of the good Samaritan, we become Christ to others, taking his merciful love to everyone, without judgement or exclusion. This attitude then becomes the segue towards acceptance towards a place where we do not fail to love others.
4) Practicing Gratuitousness
Spreading kindness is a beautiful thing it itself, but in Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis asks us to practice gratuitousness which he explains as, “the ability to do things simply because they are good in themselves, without concern for personal gain or recompense.” Similar to agape love, which is also know as divine love and looks for the good of the other, gratuitous love is expressed without limitation, towards friend and foe, equally. In Matthew 5:43-47 Jesus puts this important question to us: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” Looking around at the difficulties encountered by refugees, members the LGBTQ community, displaced Palestinians, and similarly those who are ostracized due to social stigma or racism, we can ask ourselves if we embody gratuitous love in our social relationships towards others.
“Life without fraternal gratuitousness becomes a form of frenetic commerce, in which we are constantly weighing up what we give and what we get back in return. God, on the other hand, gives freely, to the point of helping even those who are unfaithful; he “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good” (Mt 5:45). There is a reason why Jesus told us: “When you give alms, do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret” (Mt 6:3-4). We received life freely; we paid nothing for it. Consequently, all of us are able to give without expecting anything in return, to do good to others without demanding that they treat us well in return. As Jesus told his disciples: “Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give” (Mt 10:8).” (Fratelli Tutti, 140)
A befitting example of this reality came three months’ after Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq, when religious and political leaders came together to discuss the promotion human fraternity in Iraq. Following this virtual meeting, marking a significant step towards inter-religious dialogue, the UAE pledged over $50 million to rebuild the cultural heritage of the Iraqi city of Mosul, including two Christian churches and the 12th century Al-Nouri mosque, destroyed by ISIS, leading the way by actions and not just words. If each of us were to follow this example and extend ourselves by reaching out to others who are not from our faith, caste, land, region or race, we could all then be contributors towards world peace and religious tolerance founded on mutual respect.
5) Cultivating Cultural Covenants
A covenant, in biblical terms, is different from a promise, an agreement or an oath. When modelled on God’s binding covenants as detailed in scripture, we have something that goes beyond a mere promise which can be broken by either party. Not only does this give us a model of integrity but it also helps us to follow God’s way of living up to His end of the promise (even when the other party fails) thereby making it a covenant. In our world today, dialogue and respect are necessary for a cultural covenant where one respects and acknowledges different worldviews. The inherent need that we all ought to strive to heal wounds and restore peace amongst those who are suppressed and oppressed, is urgently required today in a world that is broken, hurt, and ailing. This must be done without inciting further anger, or hatred amongst those who are already in the midst of a battle for their homeland, their rights, or justice in any form. For relationships to thrive, we must be ready to embrace a new political re-awakening which puts human dignity back at the center of our world. Pope Francis talks of a social charity where we think of another and look beyond our nationalist identity. As artisans of peace, he explains that every person can participate in a dialogue of forgiveness and understanding by ‘uniting and not dividing, by extinguishing hatred and not holding on to it, by opening paths of dialogue and not constructing walls.’ This attitude is fostered when each of us act as living tabernacles, seeing Christ in every person and acting as a blessing to everyone we encounter in our daily lives. It really is all about small acts of love, best explained by this extract:
“At a time when various forms of fundamentalist intolerance are damaging relationships between individuals, groups and peoples, let us be committed to living and teaching the value of respect for others, a love capable of welcoming differences, and the priority of the dignity of every human being over his or her ideas, opinions, practices and even sins. Even as forms of fanaticism, closedmindedness and social and cultural fragmentation proliferate in present-day society, a good politician will take the first step and insist that different voices be heard. Disagreements may well give rise to conflicts, but uniformity proves stifling and leads to cultural decay. May we not be content with being enclosed in one fragment of reality.” (Fratelli Tutti, 191)
To promote a dialogue of understanding and tolerance, the International Day of Human Fraternity was marked on February 4th and furthering this noble agenda on the world stage is the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity offering a financial prize of $1 million annually to recognize individuals, organizations, and other entities for their contributions to human fraternity. This financial incentive is a motivator to enable people of all backgrounds and faiths, to work towards world peace and and to uphold the dignity of every human person. Led by the Pope and the Grand Imam, the document on human fraternity is the strongest appeal during such troubled times against bigotry, religious extremism and terrorism.
How can we make a difference?
As social activism continues to spark a revolution as powerful as the Arab Spring uprising, the recent Israel-Palestinian conflict, and the BLM movement – we have reason to act responsibly towards each other, regardless of our religious beliefs; to raise our voices with respect and tolerance, remembering to love our enemies, embracing our neighbors, practicing love and gratitude and looking out for the good of our neighbor to inspire, imitate and impart nothing less than agape love.
Every person – Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or any religious faith – can follow the precepts outlined in the document of human fraternity, to promote world peace by acknowledging the role of religions and its place in society. If we were to adopt the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times; use words when necessary” then each of us, regardless of our faith, would be able to demonstrate our religious creed to the world, showing who we are by our love, hospitality, culture, dialogue and gratitude. The onus to be the change is on each one, rather than only on leaders and people of influence, power, status or position.
