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Baba Mondi, in the Vatican/ Message from Pope Francis: Relations with the Bektashi community, an asset for all of us

2025-01-16 14:22:00, Aktualitet CNA

Historic meeting of the Holy Father Pope Francis with the World Patriarch His Holiness Haxhi Dede Edmon Brahimaj.

This morning in an audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, the Pope received the World Patriarch Baba Mondi, along with the delegation.

After warmly welcoming him, the Pope said, among other things, that "every time religious leaders meet, unite, in a spirit of mutual respect, and engage through dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation, our hope for a better and more just world, which our time so desperately needs, is renewed and confirmed."

The Pope further recalled "the friendly relations between the Catholic Church and the Bektashi community, as a treasure for all of us. And I am confident that these ties will be increasingly strengthened in the service of fraternity and peaceful coexistence."

The Pope also highlighted some of the important moments that have characterized the relations between the Bektashi community and the Catholic Church. Here, the Pope underlined that "fraternal relations that serve as a bridge that builds reconciliation and not strife, peace and not religious division, both within the country but also in relations between East and West. In this way, the future of human society is honored.

The World Patriarch, His Holiness, thanking for the warm welcome, proposed to sign together with the Holy Father Francis the document on human fraternity of Abu Dhabi. Which the Pope appreciated and accepted with great affection, recalling the role that the Bektashi community has played in history and in relations with other religious communities.

In this context, the Patriarch informed the Pope about the initiative of the Prime Minister of Albania, Rama, to create the New Sovereign Bektashi State, which will be a moderate Islamic state, within Western society. 'This is a beautiful initiative which I bless,' said the Pope.

As a sign of gratitude and deep devotion, the World Patriarch His Holiness Baba Edmond Brahimaj presented the Pope with the green shawl, a symbol of Bektashism.

The meeting ended with a brotherly embrace, followed by the exchange of gifts.

The World Patriarch's visit continued with meetings at the Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and with a fraternal visit to Vatican Radio.

Pope Francis' full speech

Dear brother Haxhi Baba Edmond Brahimaj,

Excellency,

Dear friends,

I warmly welcome this distinguished delegation from Albania and in particular from the Bektashi Community and thank the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue for making this meeting possible.

Whenever religious leaders come together in a spirit of mutual appreciation and commit to a culture of encounter, through dialogue, understanding, and mutual cooperation, our hope for a better and more just world is renewed and confirmed. How much our time needs such hope!

The friendly relations between the Catholic Church, Albania and the Bektashi Community are good for all of us and I am confident that these ties will be increasingly strengthened in the service of brotherhood and peaceful coexistence among peoples.

In these difficult times, we are all called to reject the logic of violence and discord, to embrace that of encounter, friendship, and cooperation in search of the common good.

In fact, our religious convictions help us to embrace more clearly these fundamental values, specific to our common humanity, "allowing the different voices together to form a noble and harmonious song" (Encyclical Letter Fratelli tutti, 283).

In this regard, I think with gratitude of the many moments of fraternal encounters that have taken place between the Bektashi community and the Catholic Church, such as the Prayer for Peace in the Balkans in 1993 and the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi in 2011.

The inauguration of the Bektashi temple in Tirana in 2015 was a particularly fruitful moment of rapprochement and friendship. I am convinced that the Bektashi Community, together with Muslims, Christians and all other believers present in Albania, can serve as a bridge of reconciliation and mutual enrichment not only within your country, but also between East and West.

Despite the challenges of the present, interfaith dialogue has a unique role in building a future of reconciliation, justice, and peace that the people of the world, especially the young, so fervently desire.

Dear friends, I assure you of my prayers and blessings for your important work and for all the beloved Albanian people. And please pray for me as well. Thank you.