Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue; and Bishop Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton, PA, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, issued the following statement on February 8, 2019:
“In our increasingly hostile world in which violence too often predominates between Christians and Muslims—violence that has led to tragic consequences for the most vulnerable humans—we welcome with great joy this historic joint statement on human fraternity by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb. The statement, which represents the culmination of the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula and marks the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the encounter between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in Egypt, is a clarion call for robust dialogue that leads to peace. We commend it to all people of good will, especially leaders of nations and religious groups, in the hope that it might serve as a resource to overcome division through a renewed commitment to dialogue and the establishment of goodwill.”
The Document of the Pope and Grand Imam
