Pope Francis warned in Bahrain on Friday that “opposition blocs” and global divisions have plunged humanity into a “sensitive precipice,” a veiled reference to the Ukraine war.
“We live in a time when humanity, connected as never before, appears much more divided than united,” he said during a speech to religious leaders in the Gulf Kingdom.
“We remain on the brink of a delicate precipice and do not want to fall.”
Francis, who has made religious dialogue a pillar of his papacy, was speaking on the first full day of his trip to the tiny island nation, arriving Thursday afternoon.
His visit comes as the Ukraine war enters its ninth month and tensions are rising on the Korean peninsula.
In his speech on Friday, Francis warned that “some potentates are engaged in a determined struggle for partisan interests, revitalizing outdated rhetoric, reshaping spheres of influence and fighting blocs”.
“Instead of cultivating our surroundings, we instead play with fire, rockets and bombs, weapons that bring suffering and death, and cover our common homes with ashes and hate,” he said.
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo’s renowned Al-Azhar Mosque and center for Sunni learning, also addressed the gathering.
Tayeb warned that “market economies, monopolization of resources, greed and arms sales to the Third World” “produce victims of war”.
Ahead of the Pope’s speech, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State who met with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in September, told journalists that there had been “a few small signs” of progress in negotiations with Moscow.
“All peace initiatives are good. It is important that we carry them out together and do not instrumentalize them for other goals,” he said.
The Pope’s 39th international trip since taking office comes three years after he signed a Muslim-Christian Manifesto for Peace in the United Arab Emirates during the first papal visit to the Gulf region, where Islam was born.
The Pope’s visit to Bahrain was overshadowed by allegations of rights violations, particularly against Shiites in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, allegations Manama denies.
On Thursday, the pope criticized the use of the death penalty and urged nations to respect human rights.
