His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Catholic Church, met with members of the jury of the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity in its third session 2022, on Wednesday, at the Papal Headquarters, stressing the importance of the work they are doing to the world.
His Holiness Pope Francis described his historic meeting with the Grand Imam, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb in Abu Dhabi, as the “first step” on the path of human brotherhood.
For their part, the members of the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity Jury expressed their deep gratitude to Pope Francis for the committee’s support in its lofty mission, stressing that the judging process is based on its evaluation of the historical human fraternity document signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam, Sheikh of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi in 2019, under the auspices of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Patron of Human Fraternity.
The judging panel includes H.E. Mahamadou Issoufou, former President of the Republic of Niger and recipient of the 2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership; H.E. José Ramos Horta, former President of East Timor and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Cardinal Michael Czerny, Under-Secretary of the Division for Migrants and Refugees at the Holy See, Dr. Leah Bessar, Head of the Aladdin Project Initiative, and Counselor Mohamed Abdel Salam, Secretary-General of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity.
Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso, Chairman of the Sessions of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity and President of the Pontifical Council for Dialogue, stressed that the meeting of His Holiness Pope Francis with the members of the jury of the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity 2022 represents support for the Committee’s efforts in providing pioneering models that would contribute to the dissemination of the principles stipulated in the document Human fraternity and calls for spreading the values of tolerance, coexistence and peace.
For his part, Counselor Abdel Salam, Secretary-General of the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity, former advisor to the Grand Imam, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the first Arab Muslim to receive the highest honor from the Pope of the Vatican, said: “It is an honor for the jury to meet His Holiness Pope Francis, whose common path of fraternity is Humanity along with the Grand Imam is a source of inspiration for heaven and the world, which suffers from humanitarian and health crises, as well as the scourge of selfishness, inequality and injustice.
Following the visit of Pope Francis, the jury held its first in attendance meeting in Rome to discuss evaluation mechanisms to determine the winners of the award in its third session 2022. The Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity, which includes a financial prize of one million US dollars, aims to promote the values of human fraternity described by His Holiness Pope Francis as The “Century Challenge” by celebrating individuals and entities who have made great contributions to promoting the values of human brotherhood and peaceful coexistence.
The award, which is granted by the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, was established in February 2019 to commemorate the historic meeting between His Holiness Pope Francis and the Grand Imam, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, where the two great religious symbols signed the Human Fraternity Document and became the first honorary winners of the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity.
It is worth mentioning that the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity is an independent international committee established to promote the values of human brotherhood around the world and achieve the aspirations of the Document on Human Fraternity. The nomination process for the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity 2022 will end on December 1, 2021, and the winners will be announced on February 4, 2022.
Eligible entities can submit their nominations for the award through the official website of the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity at the following link: https://zayedaward.org/.
Source: wam
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