Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 77 ] — DAY TWO OPENING SESSION — Believing in the possibility of joint action between the fol- lowers of different religions from all civilizations, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif conducts high level intellec- tual dialogue with both Western and Eastern Churches. He has also made visits to Canterbury Cathedral and the World Council of Churches. He has received delegations representing different religions and cultures, and organ- ized many meetings and workshops at the Al-Azhar Centre for Interfaith Dialogue. The most prominent of these visits was of Pope Francis in 2017, where he participated in an important speech at our Peace Conference in the spirit of Al-Azhar’s keenness to establish the principles of coex- istence and acceptance of the Other, and to promote the values of citizenship, peaceful coexistence and intellectual pluralism. Hopefully, this will stimulate a larger presence and attendance of Christian brothers and sisters from var- ious Eastern and Western churches. In the Arab region alone, the money spent on purchasing weapons and developing systematic plans for destruction could, if redirected, solve the problems of hunger, poverty, disease and ignorance — the problems of countless inno- cent people. Destruction and devastation will be replaced by reconstruction and development if the machinery of dem- olition is stopped. It is surprising that a force or a nation believes that it can live in peace on the ruins of another state or nation and on the scattered bodies of women, children, and the elderly, unaware that the emerging generations will be filled with