December 19 2021
BERLIN – Secretary-General of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF) Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam met Irmgard-Maria Fellner, Deputy Director-General for Culture and Communication at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office to discuss cooperation in promoting interfaith dialogue and coexistence.
At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Director-General Fellner expressed her appreciation of the HCHF’s efforts in promoting values of mutual understanding, coexistence, and dialogue among people of different faiths and cultures. She commended the efforts led by His Eminence Grand Imam of Al- Azhar Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb and His Holiness Pope Francis for promoting peace worldwide, noting that the two figures present a unique example offraternal relationship for religious leaders.
Ms. Fellner welcomed the cooperation with the HCHF in promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue through leading several human fraternity initiatives – not only in Germany but around the world.
For his part, Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam praised the efforts of the former and current German governments in fighting extremist discourse and promoting interfaith dialogue and coexistence. He stressed the importance of establishing a department for interfaith dialogue and cultural communication under the Federal Foreign Office, in addition to the government’s announcement that promoting interfaith dialogue is part of the new German policy. This will contribute to further promoting values of coexistence, human fraternity, and
equal citizenship, said Abdelsalam.
Judge Abdelsalam highlighted the efforts led by the HCHF in promoting a culture of coexistence and interfaith dialogue. In so doing, the HCHF has launched several initiatives, including the Abrahamic Family House, the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, and the Human Fraternity Youth Summit. The Committee has also incorporated the values outlined the historic Document on Human Fraternity – co-signed in 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi, UAE – in educational curricula for millions of students around the world, added Abdelsalam. At the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to continue their communication and align their efforts to spread the values of the Document on Human Fraternity.
