Pope in Azerbaijan: ‘May religions be a dawn of peace’

Pope Francis has called on Muslim leaders to join him in giving a united response to a conflict-ridden world and to build together a future of peace. Speaking on Sunday afternoon to Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazadeh, Grand Mufti of the Caucasus during an interreligious meeting at the end of his apostolic visit to Azerbaijan, the Pope said that today “we are challenged to give a response that can no longer be put off”. To the Sheikh and those who received him in the Aliyev Mosque of Baku, the Pope said: “now is not the time for violent or abrupt solutions, but rather an urgent moment to engage in patient processes of reconciliation. The real question of our time is not how to advance our own caus ...