International Day of Human Fraternity

Today, the 4th February 2021, marks the first celebration of the International Day of Human Fraternity, following a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in December 2020.

It is interesting on this day to re-read the document on human fraternity adopted by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, on the 4th February 2019, a document which can be seen as a forerunner of the UN resolution. That resolution was introduced by the representative of the United Arab Emirates; and it was during Pope Francis' visit to the UAE that the document on human fraternity was promulgated.

It is important, I think, to read the Pope and Grand Imam's document in its entirety, and not to focus on the one sentence in the whole that provoked criticism. Indeed, a reading of the whole puts that one sentence into a clear context.

Three paragraphs are offered below, chosen in a somewhat random way; but do read the whole.

This Declaration, setting out from a profound consideration of our contemporary reality, valuing its successes and in solidarity with its suffering, disasters and calamities, believes firmly that among the most important causes of the crises of the modern world are a desensitized human conscience, a distancing from religious values and a prevailing individualism accompanied by materialistic philosophies that deify the human person and introduce worldly and material values in place of supreme and transcendental principles....

It is clear in this context how the family as the fundamental nucleus of society and humanity is essential in bringing children into the world, raising them, educating them, and providing them with solid moral formation and domestic security. To attack the institution of the family, to regard it with contempt or to doubt its important role, is one of the most threatening evils of our era....

The first and most important aim of religions is to believe in God, to honour Him and to invite all men and women to believe that this universe depends on a God who governs it. He is the Creator who has formed us with His divine wisdom and has granted us the gift of life to protect it. It is a gift that no one has the right to take away, threaten or manipulate to suit oneself. Indeed, everyone must safeguard this gift of life from its beginning up to its natural end. We therefore condemn all those practices that are a threat to life such as genocide, acts of terrorism, forced displacement, human organ trafficking, abortion and euthanasia. We likewise condemn the policies that promote these practices....