Pope for peace

Last Sunday, I watched the special transmission of the Easter ceremony held in the Holy Vatican on the TV screen, where a huge crowd of people was eager to glimpse their spiritual leader, Pope Francis. I was thinking that the real ruler is the one who reigns in the hearts of the people, whose high personality and high character make people love him. However, no one knew that this Easter would prove to be the last Easter of the 88-year-old Pope Francis.

The 112th Pope of the Catholic Christian world, Francis, had the honour of being the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He believed in humility, modesty and a simple lifestyle. As soon as he assumed the holy position of the pope, he started focusing on the poor, the marginalised and the neglected. He made social justice a top priority of his papacy and considered it essential to discuss every issue that was related to the common good of humanity.

Pope Francis was strongly against oppression, aggression and brutality, which he also demonstrated in his recent Easter address. In his last address, he emphasised ending the ongoing atmosphere of war and hatred in the world, declaring that: "There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others."

The excellent way in which the Pope incorporated contemporary global issues, including climate change, into the teachings of the Church has never been seen before. According to him, it is the collective responsibility of people around the world to ensure the care and protection of their common habitat, the Earth. Pope Francis termed the Internet a gift from God in the digital age. According to him, “The digital world can be an environment rich in humanity; a network not of wires but of people.”

Pope Francis believed in forgiving others to achieve God's mercy. Declaring 2015-2016 the Holy Year of Mercy, he asked his followers to cultivate the qualities of forgiveness, compassion and understanding of each other's pain. Pope Francis was well aware of the bitter reality that, since ancient times, conflicts on religious grounds have been ongoing between different groups of people. Even today, mankind is facing serious threats from religious conflicts. This is why Pope Francis has always been at the forefront of promoting world peace and interfaith harmony.

During his tenure, Pope Francis stressed the need to ensure respect for every religion in his meetings with various leaders of Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism and other faiths. Pope Francis won the hearts of peace-loving persons around the world by signing peace documents with several religious leaders. He took a historic step to bring the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church closer by issuing a joint declaration for the first time in the past thousand years. He also signed a Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration, with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb.

Those who had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis said that he was not a traditional hard-liner religious figure, but used a great sense of humour during his conversations. Last year, he hosted more than a hundred prominent comedians from around the world at the holy site of the Vatican.

Pope Francis was also very concerned about the minorities living in Pakistan and India. Although he had hinted at visiting here many times, he never came in his lifetime.

In my opinion, Pope Francis was a legendary visionary leader who dedicated his entire life to peace. Today, Pakistanis are also mourning the demise of Pope Francis. Although he is not among us, he will always live in our hearts. Hopefully, the next pope will follow in his footsteps and make world peace and religious harmony top priority.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council. He tweets/posts @RVankwani