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In his Apostolic Visit to Egypt, Pope Francis has delivered a magnificent speech. Without the naming of names, the speech was clearly aimed at the religious leaders of Islam, and the following quotations illustrate this point:
“Let us say once more a firm and clear ‘No!’ to every form of violence, vengeance and hatred carried out in the name of religion or the name of God.”
“Together let us affirm the incompatibility of violence and faith, belief and hatred.”
“We have an obligation to denounce violations of human dignity and human rights, to expose attempts to justify every form of hatred in the name of religion, and to condemn these attempts as idolatrous caricatures of God.”
“No act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God for it would profane his name.”
The full text of the speech is not yet available in English on the Vatican's website, but it will be certainly worthwhile to read the Pontiff's address.
There is good coverage of the trip on Salt + Light TV, and the coverage on EWTN has been outstanding.
Let us remember to pray for Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church, to pray for Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox, and to pray for the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Patriarch Bartholomew.
For these three leaders of the Churches to come together in Egypt is tremendously important, and I, metaphorically standing on tiptoes, eagerly look forward to hearing what may come from their time together. May God grant His Church a superabundance of Truth, Unity, and above all Love in Christ Jesus our Saviour.
