Daniele De Luca.
«True hope is intertwined with the drama of human existence. It is not a comfortable refuge, but a fire that burns and illuminates, like the Word of God ». In this idea of hope that Pope Francis expressed during the Jubilee of the artists last February, we seem to emerge so much of the sensitivity and concreteness of his pontificate, marked by the effective attention to the weakest but also of significant “political” calls and gestures. One in particular seems important to remember. During the apostolic journey in the United Arab Emirates from 3 to 5 February 2019, Pope Francis and the great imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyeb, who is one of the most important authorities in the Islamic world, they signed, precisely on day 4, the Document on human brotherhood for world peace and common coexistence. It is a document that has not only the value of a stop in the path of interreligious dialogue. We asked for the point of view of a historian, Daniele De Luca, professor of the history of international relations and international history of the Middle East at the University of Salento. “In some respects,” explains De Luca, “the document seems to presage events that then upset the international picture within a few years. In 2019, how many could have foreseen a conflict between two European countries almost eighty years after the last, or such a violent recovery of the bloody conflict in the Middle East? Yet, the Pope and the great Imam of Al-Azhar focused on some issues that would become of dramatic topicality in a very short time: religious and national extremism, the intolerance, the lack of an equitable distribution of natural resources (for the benefit of a few) and which, as we can verify almost daily, led to “lethal crises” in the most deafening international silence. The reference to the countless situations of violence and exploitation is clear, especially in the African continent, very dear to Pope Francis.
The strong condemnation of terrorism signed in the document is not obvious: wasn’t it at that moment and perhaps it is even less today?
“True, because there are not few countries who prefer to hide behind a strong ambiguity on the subject. The document on human brotherhood, on the contrary, is clear and direct: a decisive sentence of terrorism in all its forms. But the sentence is not enough, the Pontiff and the Great Imam add that any type of support for terrorist organizations must be stopped. No money, weapons or media coverage, how some television broadcasters have done in recent years. The terrorist acts must be considered clear international crimes that “threaten safety and world peace”. Just consider here the dramatic consequences caused by the Hamas attack against the state of Israel on 7 October 2023.
How particular is the reference to women?
“The call and support of women’s rights takes on a particular meaning because the document is signed in the United Arab Emirates – and we do not say anything new if we underline the difficult condition of women in the entire Middle East. For the West, the recognition of women’s rights to education, work or the exercise of their political rights is almost obvious. In other regions of the world this does not happen, for this reason to draw up and sign a document which, in addition to what has been said, declares the need for the protection of women from sexual exploitation and their commodification becomes a fundamental importance. And this in a more general perspective for a decisive defense of female dignity ».
We must also focus on the right of citizenship. Why is it so important for the Middle Eastern world?
«Because in many areas of the region this is decidedly limited. On the subject, a part of the document appears extremely interesting: the request for full citizenship for everyone and for all and the renunciation “to the discriminatory use of the term minority, which brings with it the seeds of feeling isolated and of the inferiority”. In short, the principle of equality in diversity is. Equality in the rights, duties and dignity that is recalled in the initial part of the document, with a reference – we do not know how much it wanted – to the preamble of the declaration of independence of the United States of America. In the specific case, the founding fathers also included the “pursuit of happiness” in the rights of people “.
But given the current context of attempts to crumble international law, is the recall contained in the document also assumes new value for the West?
“Perhaps it is precisely here that we find a further topicality of the 2019 document. Pope Francis and the Imam Ahmad al-Tayyeb, together, recognize the urgent need for the meeting between the West and the East. Citing verbatim: “The West could find in the civilization of the East remedies for some of its spiritual and religious diseases caused by the dominion of materialism. And the East could find in the civilizations of the West many elements that can help him save himself from weakness, division, conflict and scientific, technical and cultural decline”. Here we are facing not so much to an interreligious dialogue but to a true declaration of political strategy to respond to many of the pitfalls of modern times: frustration, solitude, despair that – according to the document – can lead to an atheist and agnostic extremism, or to a religious integrity “.
The context in which Bergoglio was Pope was defined by him of “third world war in pieces” … do we want to remember the meaning of this expression keeping in mind the document on human brotherhood?
“We mention verbatim, so as to be clear:” History states that religious and national extremism and intolerance have produced in the world, both in the West and in the East, which could be called the signs of a “third world war in pieces” “. When the document is written, what is happening particularly in Africa pushes towards such a consideration. But the document goes further, warning against the possibility that further areas are created for new conflicts and, therefore, that “a world situation dominated by uncertainty, disappointment and fear of the future can be achieved and controlled by the short -sightedness of myopian economic interests”. In one way or another, he seems to announce the days we are experiencing ».
