Pope Francis made waves in the land of the Arabs this week, and its impact would touch down on the shores across the world. In what history would record as the first visit by the head of the Catholic Church to the Arabian peninsula, the Pope and a top Islamic cleric jointly signed a document titled Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together’. They also called for freedom of belief. Notably, Pope Francis is progressive minded, as is testified in several of his unconventional actions. His three-day visit to a land that hitherto displayed a mental barrier to the Church’s high priests marks a major shift in the attitudes of the Islam-centric Gulf region and of the Church to a more progressive level.
What was supposedly in the making after the end of the Cold War was, as noted American thinker Samuel P Huntington visualized, a Clash of Civilizations — or clash of cultures based on religious and cultural divides. The Al Qaeda attacks in the US were a turning point in history. The Iraq War, in which the Americans reduced Baghdad largely to dust, reinforced such a perception. Thereafter, having learnt their lesson, America toned down its rhetoric against the despots in the Arab world, though a few such dictators were pulled down from the ego-centric edifices they built over generations.
The Islamic despots and dictators in the Arab world had given little room for religious freedom and are still a rule unto themselves. The oil wealth gave them a high profile and considerable dash of arrogance. As vestiges of the old British era there, churches are very much in vogue and limited religious freedom is allowed to Christians, mainly out of fear because Americans and the British are still breathing down their necks. But, it was after a long time and much persuasion that a Hindu temple could function in a normal manner in the UAE – thanks perhaps to pressure from the Modi government.
For humans, there has to be life beyond religion. This, even as the good side of religions cannot be lost sight of. Co-existence is the way forward for humanity, be it in the liberal West, conservative Islamic nations, or tradition-bound India where streaks of fundamentalism are evident of late in the garb of Hindutva. A modern society would need to rise above barriers of religions, race and caste. Pope Francis has taken a big step forward towards ensuring global communal amity.
