Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, begins with the story of St Francis of Assisi’s meeting with Sultan Malek al-Kamil of Egypt in the 13th century during the fifth crusade. Whatever St Francis’ intentions were, the two were men of peace, recognised each other as such, and spent time conversing about the things of God.
The Sultan had offered peace to the Christian army five times and sought peaceful coexistence with Christians. Francis had urged the crusader not to attack the Muslims during the siege of Damietta. After this encounter, Francis encouraged his brothers not to engage in arguments or disputes with Muslims and non-believers, but to use opportunities to witness to their own faith by actions rather than words.
Fratelli Tutti ends with another Christian’s encounter with Islam. Charles de Foucauld lived as a hermit in the Sahara desert in Algeria among the Tuareg, a Berber ethnic group in North Africa. He was murdered there and is considered to be a Christian martyr. His approach was like that of St Francis, living close to and sharing the life of the people. He preached, not through sermons but through the example of his life, studying the language and culture of the Tuareg and publishing the first Tuareg-French dictionary. He was challenged and impressed by the Tuaregs’ faith.
He wrote, “The sight of their faith, of these people living in God’s constant presence, afforded me a glimpse into something greater and truer than earthly preoccupations.” In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis describes him as one who “made a journey of transformation towards feeling a brother to all”.
An example of this brotherhood is seen in the friendship between Pope Francis and Ahmed el- Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo. They signed a document entitled Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together at an interfaith gathering in Abu Dhabi in February 2019. Pope Francis explicitly acknowledges the encouragement of the Grand Imam in the writing of Fratelli Tutti, which develops some of the great themes raised in the Human Fraternity document. In that document, the two religious leaders declared “God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters.”
This Christmas, a time of goodwill to all, nothing could be more inspiring than Fratelli Tutti – urging us all to reach out and encounter our brothers and sisters of all faiths and none.
The prayers that conclude the encyclical are a final interfaith moment for me. One is an ecumenical Christian prayer and the other is a prayer to the Creator that can be said standing side by side with our brothers and sisters of other faiths, particularly the Abrahamic faiths. In the face of the crises that face all of humanity, why would we not want to pray:
May our hearts be open to all the peoples and nations of the earth.
May we recognise the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us,
and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects and shared dreams. Amen
This blog has been adapted from the original which can be found here www.interfaithjourneys.net