Pope Francis, during his weekly General Audience, remembers the first International Day of Human Fraternity, which falls on February 4. He also announced his participation in a virtual meeting with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the UN Secretary-General and other leaders.
By Vatican News staff reporter
During his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis recalled that the first International Day of Human Fraternity is celebrated on Thursday, February 4.
World Day was established by a Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in December 2020.
The initiative also takes note of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Coexistence on February 4, 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar (Cairo), Ahmad Al- Tayyeb, in Abu Dhabi.
The Pope and the Grand Imam spent almost half a year drafting the document before their apostolic visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Celebrating fraternity
During the Audience, the Pope was pleased that “nations around the world are joining this celebration, aimed at promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue.”
He also told the faithful that on Thursday afternoon he would participate in a virtual meeting with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and other leaders.
The United Nations Resolution, Pope Francis stressed, “recognizes the contribution that dialogue between all religious groups can make to improving awareness and understanding of the common values shared by all humanity.”
“May this be our prayer today and our commitment every day of the year,” he said.
Award for human brotherhood
The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, which is inspired by the document on Human Fraternity, will also be presented on February 4.
The meeting and awards ceremony will be broadcast in several languages from 14:30 (Rome time) – 13:30 (GMT time) – by Vatican News, the Holy See’s multimedia information portal. and broadcast by Vatican Media.