Accra, 04 June, 2021 / 2:50 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops in Africa and Europe have, in a joint statement, encouraged the fostering of inter-religious dialogue in their respective continents in line with the message of Pope Francis in his October 2020 Encyclical Letter, Fratelli Tutti.
In their joint statement shared with ACI Africa Thursday, June 3 following their two-day virtual seminar, the Catholic Bishops in Africa under their common forum of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and their counterparts under the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) highlight the value of inter-religious dialogue, making reference to Fratelli Tutti (FT).
Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter on human fraternity and social friendship, the Bishops say, “is an invitation to human beings all over the world for a renewed commitment to universal brotherhood, friendship, solidarity and peaceful coexistence.”
“In a world filled with good values, but also full of hatred, hostility, extremism, violence and bloodshed (cfr. FT no. 285), we invite everyone to welcome the Holy Father's heartfelt appeal for inter-religious dialogue as a way of stimulating friendship, peace and harmony and to guarantee religious freedom, which is a fundamental human right for all believers,” members of SECAM and CCEE say in their joint statement issued after their June 1-2 seminar.
Such dialogue, they say, should be “motivated by a sincere openness to transcendent Truth, to God who is the Father of all humanity, with an authentic worship of God and love for our neighbor (cfr. FT no. 282) as the final outcome.”