Pope Francis met with Bahrain’s Muslim Council of Elders on his second day in the country, telling members that peace can only be achieved by moving beyond past conflicts and joining forces to promote the common good. Speaking at the Mosque of Sakhir Royal Palace Friday, the Pope voiced his belief that “increasingly we need to encounter one another, to get to know and to esteem one another, to put reality ahead of ideas and people ahead of opinions, openness to heaven ahead of differences on earth.”
“We need to put a future of fraternity ahead of a past of antagonism, overcoming historical prejudices and misunderstand-ings in the name of the One who is the source of peace,” he said, asking, “how can believers of different religions and cultures live side-by-side, accept and esteem one another if we remain distant and detached?”
In a world plagued by growing wounds and divisions where “beneath the surface of globalization senses anxiety and fear,” the great religious traditions, he said, “must be the heart that unites the members of the body, the soul that gives hope and life to its highest aspirations.”
In his speech to the Council of Elders, the Pope voiced his gratitude to be among leaders who “desire to foster reconci-liation in order to avoid divisions and conflicts in Muslim communities.”