Pope Francis, during a trip to Bahrain to promote and engage in inter-faith dialogue, warned Friday that the world was on the edge of a “delicate precipice” buffeted by “winds of war.” The 85-year-old pontiff hinted at the Russo-Ukrainian War when he denounced the behavior of “opposing blocs” in a speech given at the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue. “We continue to find ourselves on the brink of a delicate precipice and we do not want to fall,” he said. Among those in attendance were Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar mosque, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. “
A few potentates,” the pope said, “are caught up in a resolute struggle for partisan interests, reviving obsolete rhetoric, redesigning spheres of influence and opposing blocs. We appear to be witnessing a dramatic and childlike scenario: in the garden of humanity, instead of cultivating our surroundings, we are playing instead with fire, missiles and bombs.”
The pope was to meet members of the Muslim Council of Elders later in the day.
Al-Tayeb called Friday for dialogue to settle the disputes between Islam’s two main branches, the Sunnis and the Shiites. “I … call on my brothers, Muslim scholars, across the world of every doctrine, sect and school of thought to hold an Islamic dialogue,” he said.
Three years ago, he and Francis met in the United Arab Emirates, where they signed a Muslim-Christian manifesto for peace.
The pope has visited several Muslim-majority countries, including Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq, to pursue dialogue among religious leaders.
The pope arrived in Bahrain on Thursday to begin the first papal visit to Bahrain in history, He spoke out against the death penalty and urged greater respect for human rights and better conditions for workers.