APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (3-5 FERUARY 2019), INTERRELIGIOUS MEETING, ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS

[…]
The point of departure is the recognition that God is at the origin of the one human
family. He who is the Creator of all things and of all persons wants us to live as
brothers and sisters, dwelling in the common home of creation which he has given
us. Fraternity is established here at the roots of our common humanity, as “a vocation
contained in God’s plan of creation”.[1] This tells us that all persons have equal
dignity and that no one can be a master or slave of others.
We cannot honour the Creator without cherishing the sacredness of every person and
of every human life: each person is equally precious in the eyes of God, who does
not look upon the human family with a preferential gaze that excludes, but with a
benevolent gaze that includes. Thus, to recognize the same rights for every human
being is to glorify the name of God on earth. In the name of God the Creator,
therefore, every form of violence must be condemned without hesitation, because we
gravely profane God’s name when we use it to justify hatred and violence against a
brother or sister. No violence can be justified in the name of religion.
The enemy of fraternity is an individualism which translates into the desire to affirm
oneself and one’s own group above others. This danger threatens all aspects of life,
even the highest innate prerogative of man, that is, the openness to the transcendent
and to religious piety. True religious piety consists in loving God with all one’s heart
and one’s neighbour as oneself. Religious behaviour, therefore, needs continually to
be purified from the recurrent temptation to judge others as enemies and
adversaries. Each belief system is called to overcome the divide between friends and
enemies, in order to take up the perspective of heaven, which embraces persons
without privilege or discrimination.
I wish to express appreciation for the commitment of this nation to tolerating and
guaranteeing freedom of worship, to confronting extremism and hatred. Even as the
fundamental freedom to profess one’s own beliefs is promoted – this freedom being
an intrinsic requirement for a human being’s self-realization – we need to be vigilant
lest religion be instrumentalized and deny itself by allowing violence and
terrorism.[…]