Vatican, Italy — The first visit of a Pope to the Arabian Peninsula and to Iraq; his dear friendship with Rabbi Abraham Skorka in Argentina and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayyeb; frequent visits to synagogues; condemnations of the Shoah and anti-Semitism; joint declarations with interfaith leaders committing to peace, harmony, and opposing religious extremism.
These are just a few instances that come to mind when thinking of the unforgettable moments of interreligious friendship and dialogue during, and even dating many decades before, Pope Francis’ pontificate.
During his visit in February 2019 to the United Arab Emirates, which marked the first-ever visit of a Pope to the Arabian Peninsula, Pope Francis offered an image of the Church seeking to build bridges and deepen relations with other religions.
Remarkably, the ‘Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,’ also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration, signed by Pope Francis and the highest authority among Sunni Muslims, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, at that interfaith encounter would usher in a new era of relations between Catholics and Muslims.
For among its conclusions, it launched the Declaration as “an appeal to every upright conscience that rejects deplorable violence and blind extremism; an appeal to those who cherish the values of tolerance and fraternity that are promoted and encouraged by religions.”
From there, the Pope would go on to write an encyclical focused on the theme of fraternity, Fratelli tutti, dedicating it to Sheikh Al-Tayyeb.
Early in the text, the Holy Father recalls that in the preparation of his 2015 encyclical on the environment Laudato si’, “I had a source of inspiration in my brother Bartholomew, the Orthodox Patriarch, who has spoken forcefully of our need to care for creation.”
“In this case,” he continued, “I have felt particularly encouraged by the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, with whom I met in Abu Dhabi, where we declared that ‘God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters.”‘
Here the Pope highlighted, “This was no mere diplomatic gesture, but a reflection born of dialogue and common commitment.”
Moreover, Pope Francis would become the first Pope to complete a visit to Iraq, despite challenges of security and the Covid-19 pandemic, during which he also met with the highest authority among Iraq’s Shiite Muslims, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
That moment would leave a lasting impression on the Pope, who would repeatedly invite his brothers and sisters of other religions to, “as urged by religions,” “invest in the spread of the highest moral virtues.”
Throughout his twelve years as head of the Catholic Church, the late Pope Francis’ push for a greater sense of unity between all Christian Churches was evident through his words and deeds.https://t.co/4N3QgibVAF
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 21, 2025
He also renewed his prayers that Christians and Muslims may always be “witnesses of truth, love and hope, in a world scarred by numerous conflicts and therefore in need of compassion and healing.”
Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis would personally participate in numerous interfaith summits and interreligious encounters, making time on nearly every Apostolic Visit to meet with leaders of other religions.
Always inspired by genuine friendship, respect, and promoting peace throughout the world, the Pope travelled to Kazakhstan in 2022 for the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held in Astana, which was aimed at interfaith dialogue, but especially with a desire to promote peace efforts months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During the Pope’s visit to Bahrain a few months later, he and other religious leaders renewed their appeals for peace and for harmony among religions, in particular when he added his signature to the Bahrain Declaration, promoting interreligious dialogue and peace.
Even after some health battles and some uncertainty about his dream coming to fruition, Pope Francis travelled in September 2024 to the Indonesia, the country that has the largest population of Muslims worldwide, with more than 240 million. That would be the first leg of his whirlwind four-country Apostolic Journey, before continuing to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore.
Pope Francis was determined for several years to visit the overwhelmingly Muslim nation which is proud of its diversity and peaceful cohabitation as its founding “Pancasila” principles decree.
At the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, the world’s largest, the Pope and Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar signed the Joint Declaration of Istiqlal 2024 on Fostering Religious Harmony for the Sake of Humanity, which called for collaboration among religious leaders to react to two “serious crises” they said “the world is clearly facing,” namely dehumanization and climate change.
Certainly, the Holy Father’s meaningful moments with other religions remain in our minds. Poignant images were captured of the Pope’s encounters with Buddhists, especially during his visits to Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia, which has historically been a Buddhist nation.
Also worthy of note was his closeness to his Jewish brothers and sisters, exemplified by his longstanding friendship with several Jewish friends dating at least as far back as when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
“I have experienced your gift of friendship and wisdom, for which I thank the Lord,” the Holy Father wrote to his close friend Rabbi Abraham Skorka, the Rabbi Emeritus of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, in 2023.
The pair used to host a radio show together in Buenos Aires and wrote a book together, “On Heaven and Earth.”
Pope Francis visited synagogues in Rome, New York, and elsewhere, and often expressed his closeness to his Jewish brothers and sisters, frequently issuing categorical condemnations of anti-Semitism. He also recognized in the footsteps of his predecessors the horrors Jewish people have faced, and condemned the Shoah.
Pope Francis’ visit to Poland for the World Youth Day in 2016 offered him the opportunity to pray in silence at the Auschwitz death camp for all the innocent lives that were taken there.
During his 2014 visit to the Holy Land, the Holy Father met with Israel’s two chief rabbis, visited the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem, and also visited the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.
The Holy Father was determined, following the events of 7 October 2023, to work with faith leaders toward peace in the Holy Land, an aspiration that has been in his heart since the start of his pontificate.
While the Pope’s friendships with those of other faiths may not have moved mountains overnight, he knew down to his very core that praying together as brothers and sisters plants seeds for peace and goodness, for “nothing is impossible for God.”
