The religious leaders were the first honorary co-recipients of the award, receiving it in 2019 in recognition of their efforts to develop the historic Document on Human Fraternity, signed in Abu Dhabi, promoting values of fraternity and peaceful co-existence.

The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity is an independent global award recognising individuals and entities who are making profound contributions to human progress and peaceful coexistence.

The award was established in February 2019 to mark the historic meeting between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb, in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where the two religious leaders signed the Document on Human Fraternity — under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and patron of human fraternity.

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"We believe with certainty that Islam and Christianity have never been the origin of wars and conflicts, but rather religious faiths represent the opposite of conflicts and wars in which they are involved and exploited," he said.

The Grand Imam of al Azhar is the Egyptian Sheikh Ahmed al Tayyeb.

He made the comments about Christianity and Islam while receiving Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan during an official visit to Cairo on Monday.

The Grand Imam said the two religions teach that all human beings be recognized as "brothers in humanity".

He explained his Sunni academic institution is committed to exposing manipulations that use content from the Islamic faith to build ideologies of oppression.

Mnatsakanyan highlighted, "A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together," that Pope Francis and the Grand Imam signed last year on 4 February in Abu Dhabi.

That document has been hailed as an "unprecedented institutional event" in the history of Christian-Muslim relations.

In their meeting, The Grand Imam and Mnatsakanyan hinted at the possibility of enhancing collaboration and cultural exchanges between Armenian academic institutions and the most authoritative theological-cultural center of Sunni Islam.

The meeting highlighted their mutual concerns about religious fundamentalism in different parts of the world, discrimination on religious grounds and the exploitation of religion for political purposes.

Source

• La Croix
• Image:Asbarez.com

They signed the declaration in front of a global audience of religious leaders from Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths.

The declaration covers the need to work for peace, protect religious freedom, permit citizenship for all religions, and protect places of worship.

It also pledges that al-Azhar and the Vatican will work together to fight extremism. Claiming to be in the name of "all victims of wars, persecution and injustice", it warns against a "third world war being fought piecemeal".

It says: "We resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood".

While he was visiting the peninsula - which is the birthplace of Islam - Francis called for an end to wars in the Middle East, naming Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya.

All religious leaders have a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war", he said.

During his visit, Francis also celebrated the first-ever Catholic Mass in the Arabian Peninsula.

Source

• CNN
• Zenit
• The Guardian
• Image: Egypt Today