ROME — The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue wished all Muslim “brothers and sisters” around the world a peaceful and fruitful month of Ramadan Friday.
The message, signed by Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and Monsignor Indunil Kodithuwakku Janakaratne Kankanamalage, secretary of the council, focuses on Christians and Muslims sharing joys and sorrows together.
“As a sign of our shared humanity and the fraternity that flows from it, we wish you a peaceful and fruitful Ramadan and a joyful celebration of ‘Id al-Fitr,” states the text, which is dated February 18 but was released by the Vatican on April 8.
Among the shared sorrows mentioned in the message are “the death of a person close to us, the sickness of a member of the family, the loss of a job, the failure of a project or of a business, a crisis in the family that sometimes results in its division.”
“It is obvious that we need the proximity and solidarity of our friends more in times of crisis and sorrow than in times of joy and peace,” it declares.
The text especially emphasizes the coronavirus pandemic, which “has taken away the lives of millions of persons around the world, including members of our families.”
“Others fell sick and were healed, yet they experienced much long-lasting pain and suffering from the consequences of the virus,” it states. “As you celebrate the month of Ramadan that concludes with ‘Id al-Fitr, our thoughts turn in gratitude to Almighty God who has protected all of us in His Providence. We also pray for the dead and the sick with sorrow and hope.”
“The poverty and precarious situations in which many people find themselves because of the loss of employment and the economic and social problems related to the pandemic make our duty of sharing ever more urgent,” it adds.
Among the many joys shared by Christians and Muslims are “the birth of a child, healing from a sickness, success in studies, at work or in business, safe return from a journey, and certainly other occasions.”
“There is also a particular joy for believers: the celebration of major religious feasts,” the message reads. “When we visit or congratulate our friends and neighbours of other religions for those occasions, we share their joy for the celebration of their feast without having to adopt the religious dimension of the celebrated occasion as our own.”
The text also underscores the importance of empathy as a condition to be able to share “attitudes and sentiments on the occasion of important events, both joyful and sad, in the lives of our relatives, friends and neighbours, including those from other religions: their joys become ours, their sorrows become ours as well.”