Pope Francis "listened
carefully" and expressed interest in a proposed United
Nations-style organization of religions, suggested during
meetings Thursday bu former Israeli President Shimon Peres, a
Vatican spokesman said.
Francis did not make any personal commitments to the
concept, but said that senior officials in the Holy See
responsible for inter-religious dialogue would be reviewing the
concept, said Father Federico Lombardi.
"He listened carefully, with interest, expressing
encouragement as is the case for initiatives that involve
peace," said Lombardi.
The pope then met with Prince El Hassan bin Talal of
Jordan, the younger brother of the late King Hussein and uncle
of the current King Abdullah II.
The prince had been among the delegation that welcomed
Francis when he visited Amman in May and has been described as a
promoter of inter-religious dialogue.
"He spoke to the Pope of a commitment against violence, in
favor of human dignity, brotherhood, and aid to the poor in a
globalized world, relying on common values of religions - that
is, 'do unto others as you would have done to you'," said
Lombardi.
Earlier, Peres said that a United Religions organization
could be useful to combat terrorism and could have a charter
similar to that of the UN.
"The UN has had its time," Peres was quoted as saying by
Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana.
"What we need is an organization of United Religions, the
UN of religions," he was quoted as saying.
"It would be the best way to combat these terrorists who
kill in the name of their faith, because most people are not
like them, they practise their religions without killing anyone,
without even thinking about it," said Peres.
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