Peaceful Living and Working Together: Address of Bishop Paul Hinder

 
On February 4, 2019, Pope Francis said at the Founder’s Memorial in Abu Dhabi: “ The logo of this journey (i.e. his visit to Abu Dhabi) depicts a dove with an olive branch. It is an image that recalls the story – present in different religious traditions – of the primordial flood. According to the biblical account, in order to preserve humanity from destruction, God asked Noah to enter the ark along with his family. Today, we too in the name of God, in order to safeguard peace, need to enter together as one family into an ark which can sail the stormy seas of the world:  the ark of fraternity .” What we are doing this evening is taking care of this “ark of fraternity”.
 
We are gathered here at St Mary’s Church, where every weekend approximately 80,000 faithful from many different nations, languages and traditions are peacefully coming together for prayer, religious education and sharing of their faith experience. The Catholic Church has the understanding that within her community there are no foreigners but only citizens. That means, whether someone comes from India or the Philippines, from Nigeria or Venezuela, from Germany or from Lebanon, from China or Ukraine – as members of the church, we are simply brothers and sisters belonging equally to the same Lord Jesus Christ. I consider this fact as essential within our Church to overcome individualism and groupism.
 
I am living in this country since more than 15 years and have experienced the hospitality of the UAE, including the friendship with outstanding people like His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan here present. I have seen the enormous progress of the nation and its society, and the growing religious tolerance, due to the legacy of wise rulers in the past and at present age. The legacy of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the nation, continues to bear fruit. Thus, I do not think it was mere coincidence that this nation which was shaped by the legacy of this wise and far-sighted ruler and in particular, the Founder’s Memorial, was the site of the signing of this historic agreement. Living this very positive experience does not hinder us to ask the questions, Pope Francis has mentioned in his speech at the Founder’s Memorial: “How do we look after each other in the one human family? How do we nourish a fraternity which is not theoretical but translates into authentic fraternity? How can the inclusion of the other prevail over exclusion in the name of belonging to one’s own group? How, in short, can religions be channels of fraternity rather than barriers of separation? ”
 
Considering these questions of Pope Francis, we are called to overcome the different forms of exclusion. They may often not be intended but result from our human weakness to follow the easiest way, i.e. to relate mainly with people we are already familiar with and can communicate without any additional effort. We then run the risk to remain among our small circles and to avoid the challenges the contact with new people of other believes and cultures imply. This can lead to parallel societies and hinder the exchange of ideas and the mutual knowledge. The consequence is, that easily we remain strangers one to another. What we need is the courage to pass the mental barriers, to meet people of other faiths and cultures, to appreciate them and to work out common fields of action. The Abu Dhabi Declaration on Human Fraternity gives us some essential and very precious indications regarding the way we have to go.
 
I wish to finish with another quote of Pope Francis’ speech at the Founder’s Memorial:
 
“There is no alternative: we will either build the future together or there will not be a future. Religions, in particular, cannot renounce the urgent task of building bridges between peoples and cultures. The time has come when religions should more actively exert themselves, with courage and audacity, and without pretence, to help the human family deepen the capacity for reconciliation, the vision of hope and the concrete paths of peace.”
 
Our gathering this evening is a step in this direction. I thank the Minister of Tolerance for accepting the invitation to be with us and to speak to us this evening. I thank the parish priest, Fr. Lennie and his collaborators for for having taken the initiative and to bring us together this evening. May the blessings of Almighty God remain with all of you.