Pope Francis celebrated the International Day of Human Fraternity on Thursday, 4 February, in a virtual event hosted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Also participating were the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb; Secretary General António Guterres of the United Nations; and other personalities.
This occasion is a new International Observance of the United Nations.
On the same occasion, the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, which is inspired by the Human Fraternity Document, is awarded.
The date is no coincidence.
On 4 February 2019, during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar (Cairo), Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.
The Pope and the Grand Imam spent almost half a year drafting this document before announcing it together during this historic visit.
‘Human Fraternity’ brings to mind how humans behave toward one another.
Values that provide uplift of humanity and worldwide peace exist within all persons.
These values are Truth, Love, Peace, Right Conduct and Non-violence.
These values can be elicited by parents, teachers and exemplary humans who live with integrity. These values reside in the hearts of each and every person.
This is the meaning of Human Fraternity.
The promotion of Human Fraternity worldwide by the United Nations and religious leaders calls all to remember that there is only one race, the human race.
There is only one religion, the religion of love.
There is only one language, the language of the heart, and there is only One God, and he is everywhere.
He is everywhere in the hearts and minds of all those who follow the Golden Rule:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto yourself”.
