When Pope Paul VI visited the United Nations and addressed the General Assembly on 4 October 1965, the perception of the bishop of Rome as a “prisoner of the Vatican” began to change into a globe-trotting bridgebuilder. Since that event 60 years ago, popes have made pastoral visits a central component of their Petrine ministry, visiting Catholics, Orthodox, non-Catholics, non-Christians and non-believers throughout the world. Given the religious diversity of the planet, such pastoral visits inevitably have an ecumenical and interreligious component.
Pope watchers and “Vaticanologists” carefully count the different countries popes have visited and their ecumenical and interreligious encounters — and stop just short of revealing the number of frequent flyer miles any given pope might have compiled.
In looking at the travels and — much more importantly — the ecumenical and interreligious impact of those visits, the proverb “a ten-thousand-mile journey begins with one step” comes to mind, as well as the observation that the first steps determine the direction of the journey.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio took rather small but important steps initially in his ecumenical and interreligious journey. His initial steps, as should always be the case, were in his own neighborhood. The young Jorge encountered those who believed differently, initially as neighbors and friends in his native Buenos Aires, Argentina. Francis had friends such as Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Marcello Figuera, a Presbyterian. And Francis’ fondness toward evangelical Christians was rooted in his friendship with Giovani Traettino, who founded the Pentecostal Church of Reconciliation.
In the first steps of his long journey, Francis did not perceive and encounter Protestants, Orthodox, Evangelicals and Jews as specimens, and certainly not as enemies. He perceived and encountered them as neighbors and friends. This attitude would accompany him throughout his life, as a young Jesuit and as an octogenarian pope, bringing new life and energy to the ecumenical and interreligious movements.
An important element of his encounters with religious leaders was his ability to form real friendships. One notices this especially in his relationship with the ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew of Constantinople. There was a clear sense of affection between the two. This gave added depth to Catholic-Orthodox relations and opened new lines for cooperation.
While writing his encyclical on ecology, “Laudato si’” (“On Care for Our Common Home”), Francis worked together with a Greek Orthodox priest appointed by the ecumenical patriarch to make use of the insights of the Orthodox tradition. In fact, the commitment of both Francis and Bartholomew to ecological responsibility as a moral imperative had a profound impact on both the ecumenical and ecological movements.
One notices something similar in Francis’ relations with non-Christians. In February 2019, Francis met with Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar University, the leading center of Islam in the Sunni Muslim world. Together, they produced “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” It is a truly extraordinary document for many reasons, the first and foremost of which is its very existence.
It is also a truly joint document. Many of us are aware documents issued by the Holy See have a distinct and easily recognized style, sometimes referred to as “Vaticanese.” It might be less known, but should be no surprise, that Islamic documents, such as fatāwin (singular: fatwā), would also have a distinctive, easily recognized style. Marvelously, both styles are represented in this document in which both a Catholic and Muslim could recognize their tradition at work.
This is also interesting in that 43 years earlier, almost to the day, the Holy See had been embarrassed by a document produced at a Catholic-Muslim dialogue in Tunis. It seems as if the host, Muammar Gaddafi, had added a paragraph in Arabic that embarrassed the Holy See. More than four decades later, Catholics and Muslims were able to produce a truly joint document.
The encounter between Pope Francis and Sheikh al-Tayeb was significant in another way. Relations between the Holy See and al-Azhar University had been strained. In January 2011, the sheikh and members of the Islamic Research Academy suspended all dialogue with the Holy See after Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on the dire condition of Egyptian Christians; Pope Benedict’s relations with Islam were, at times, uneasy. The publication of a joint statement on fraternity, therefore, was far more than a mere gesture, but the healing of a breach.
As sovereign of Vatican City, the pope is head of state. The Holy See is a permanent observer nation to the United Nations and has diplomatic relations with 180 nations around the world. Official state visits are common in the world of international diplomacy. While traveling popes frequently speak of “pastoral” or “apostolic” visits, they are in many aspects also state visits.
Nevertheless, Francis almost never missed an opportunity to extend the hand of friendship and dialogue. On 6 March 2021, during his historic visit to Iraq, Francis went out of his way to visit Ali Husayni al-Sistani. While Ayatollah Khomeini and perhaps other leading Shiite Muslim ayatollahs in Iranian politics are better known, very few knew that Grand Ayatollah Ali Husayni al-Sistani was considered the most important leader in the Shiite Muslim world. His scholarship and holiness are deeply regarded in Iran and Iraq. And because he has scrupulously avoided the politics in Iran, he has quietly assumed the role of a powerful counterbalance to more radical forms of Shiite Islam.
The meeting between the octogenarian Francis and the nonagenarian al-Sistani had no agenda. The pope met al-Sistani in his home. For people — Christian and Muslim — familiar with Shiite Islam, the encounter between the two elderly giants was an incredibly powerful moment. When al-Sistani stood up to greet Francis it was an act of respect and friendship. There were no major statements made, no great media entourage. Rather it was a friendly visit between two men, two men who happen to be worldwide religious figures.
Wherever he has gone, Francis intentionally went out of his way to encounter the leaders and faithful of the religions of the world as a friend. To be sure he was pontifex maximus — the ultimate bridgebuilder — successor of St. Peter and sovereign of Vatican City.
Ecumenical and interreligious dialogue is something of recent vintage in the world of religions. The ecumenical movement is about 150 years old; interreligious dialogue as a concerted and coordinated effort has only gathered steam in the last six decades. With some oversimplification, both movements were and remain academic and intellectual. Scholars have made incredible progress in fostering understanding between the quite different and at times hostile religious communities of our planet.
Of late, however, interest and enthusiasm in dialogue has waned. Observers have spoken of an “ecumenical winter” and speculated if dialogue has gone as far as it can. Into this malaise Francis injected a new element — friendship. Theological agreements between churches are important, but soon lose energy when the members of different churches dislike or distrust one another. It is worse when leaders dislike and trust one another.
Finally, one cannot fail to remember that Francis was a member of the Society of Jesus, a Jesuit, and, deeply instilled in Ignatian spirituality, his serious theology also enabled him to express affection for and cooperate with friends without having to agree with those friends in everything, even important things.
Working with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the threats to our common home and Sheikh al-Tayeb on human fraternity, Francis trivialized not the differences among our religious traditions. But he gave a marvelous example of how we can live and work together as friends while our differences are worked out in God’s good time.