By Joseph Victor Edwin
Ooty, May 29, 2023: A document coauthored by Pope Francis and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb has inspired the participants of two seminars to launch human fraternity forums to promote peace and the art of living together.
People from various walks of life, including children and transgenders, attended the seminars on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” at Ooty and Coimbatore towns in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The Coimbatore-based Franciscan Missionaries of Mary and Delhi’s Islamic Studies Association jointly organized the seminar – first at Ooty on May 26 and then at Coimbatore the following day.
The participants discussed the salient features the declaration “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” – written by the Pope and the grand imam.
They participants found the document inviting “all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters.”
Adopting a participatory methodology, the participants discussed social interventions for a social order worthy of humanity (Gaudium et Spes 24). They felt that the document is truly a model for interfaith harmony and human solidarity.
They resolved to take inspiration and renew their commitment to stand together as one human family. They established Human Fraternity Forum to put into action the key teachings of the document.
His Holiness Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb are bridge-builders.