News
At an event held in Rome on International Women’s Day, 3 March, women gathered for an event, “Women Makers of Human Fraternity,” to express social friendship and mutual respect.
The gathering for women of faith, organised by the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, received the document of two religious leaders, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb and His Holiness Pope Francis, signed in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019: “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.”
In a video message, WCC deputy general secretary Prof Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri commended those gathered and expressed her solidarity. “Peacebuilding is a task which demands the involvement of all,” she said. “At the heart of this document is the commitment to cherish and uphold the ties we share.”
Phiri reflected that the theme of the event links very well with the 2020 theme of the World Council of Churches Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, which is “Caring for People, Earth and Water.”
“The use of the familial language of sisterhood and brotherhoods helps us conceive of the kingdom of God,” said Phiri.
In a statement, the women of faith agreed, from their different religious perspectives, to educate themselves and others for a more fraternal humanity. “We agree to protect the institution of family and to foster spaces and projects, together with representatives of politics, the media, the economy, education, science and the arts, committing, together with the new generations, to ensure that religions should never incite hatred nor justify violence and war, showing true mutual respect,” reads the statement. “We therefore launch an appeal to all believers, women and men, but also to all those who desire to live together in justice and peace, to join in this agreement, an expression of social friendship and mutual respect.”
