Pope Francis said, “Religions cannot renounce the urgent task of building bridges between peoples and cultures” (Speech in Abu Dhabi on 4th Feb). And this urgency was experienced as the Holy Father sent a video message to the people in the Arabian Peninsula greeting, “As-salāmualaykum!” – Peace be with you. The name ‘Francis’ always echoed ‘peace’ in the Church. Here we have a new Francis who imitates St. Francis of Assisi. He has also used the words, ‘human fraternity’, ‘reconciliation’, ‘peace’, ‘joy’ throughout his papacy.

Midhun J Francis, SJ

The author is working in Christian-Muslim Relationship for the South Asian Conference and doing MTh in JDV.