"Pope Calls for Religious Tolerance in Visit to the Middle-East"

by William Booth

This Saturday, Pope Francis arrived at Jordan in a visit to the Holy Lands.

During his visit, he praised Jordan's help to refugees and called for religious tolerance.

Jordan has had a history of refugees, with Palestinians having fled there in 1948 and 1967. Now, Jordan also houses 700,000 Syrians that moved there before the war broke out and another 600,000 registered refugees that have escaped to the Holy Lands since then. As of right now, Jordan suffers economic hardship, which officials hope are helped by tourists visiting through the example of the Pope.

While in Jordan, Pope Francis met with the king of Jordan to discuss ways in which to encourage interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims. The Pope is quoted on his trip calling for the freedom of the Christians minority living in the Islamic region. There is still a number of Christian biblical spots among the Muslim region that demands interfaith cooperation. There are many words said about the importance of promoting peace and cooperation, notably the Pope mentions the importance of even the smaller acts.

Will Christian-Muslim relations become better through the help of this new Pope? Will Palenstine-Israel relations smooth over? I think from what I have seen from this new pope so far, anything is possible.

Full article can be found here

Katie Madel