I begin this column with natural sadness at the passing of our beloved Pope Francis. One of his greatest accomplishments as Pope was his outreach to other Christian denominations and other world religions.
Pope Francis significantly advanced Catholic-Jewish relations by fostering interfaith dialogue, condemning antisemitism, and promoting peace and reconciliation. He emphasized lived solidarity and actively sought to build bridges with Jewish leaders, even personally visiting synagogues and acknowledging the historical wrongs of the Church in the past as regards to the treatment of Jews. His efforts included initiatives like “Translate Hate” and research projects on the Ten Commandments.
In the pope’s outreach to Jews, he consistently promoted dialogue in friendship with the Jewish community because he viewed it as an essential aspect of who we are as disciples of Jesus, who was a Jew. He made significant inroads of solidarity with the Jewish community, including visits to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and meeting with Jewish leaders in most countries he visited, as he consistently called for peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. Always emphasizing the importance of Christians and Jews working together for peace. He fostered personal connections with Jewish leaders, including his former colleague Claudio Epelman, the executive director of the Latin American Jewish Congress.
One of the high points of his interfaith outreach was the initiative he began with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in drafting a document on human fraternity. In 2019, Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb signed this document, titled “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” which promotes peace, mutual understanding, and cooperation between Christians and Muslims.
He was also the first pope to actually visit the Arabian Peninsula, meeting with both Sunni and Shia Muslim leaders to promote dialogue, fraternity and peace. During all of his trips abroad, Pope Francis made it a point to include an interfaith component to his 47 apostolic visits, encompassing 68 counties, fostering respect and understanding in meetings with Buddhist, Hindu and members of indigenous communities. As a tireless ambassador for peace in the world, he frequently condemned religious extremism and violence of any kind, emphasizing the need for religious leaders to promote peace and tolerance among all people.
Pope Francis had a great love for the Christian Orthodox world and made it a priority of his pontificate to work toward the unity of the churches of East and West. Pope Francis met with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, to discuss the importance of Christian unity and the continuation of dialogue between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. He introduced the idea of a shared date for the celebration of Easter for the Orthodox and Catholic churches in the world, echoing Pope Saint Paul VI’s desire for a unified date for one of the most sacred beliefs that we hold in common: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In his outreach to other Christians in the western world, he traveled to Lund, Sweden, in 2016 to launch a year of activities marking the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther‘s reforms, a significant event in ecumenical relations. He said at this gathering, “We remember the anniversary with a renewed spirit, and in the recognition that Christian unity is a priority, because we realize that much more unites us than separates us.” His trip to Geneva in 2018 to visit the World Council of Churches, the third pope to do so, proved his solid commitment to ecumenical dialogue. Pope Francis actively sought to move beyond past tensions and historical divisions with Protestants by promoting a more positive and cooperative relationship between the two groups. He emphasized the shared mission of Christians to proclaim the Gospel and to serve others fostering a sense of shared responsibility and spreading the message of faith.
May he rest from all his labors of love and fraternity!
Father Joseph D. Wallace is diocesan director of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Atco.
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