AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Head of the Seminaries addressed a message of appreciation and gratitude to Pope Leo for his stance against Trump's warmongering.
A portion of this message, addressed to Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the world's Catholic Church, reads: "In an era when silence in the face of oppression has become the common language of the powerful and the self-proclaimed champions of human rights, and when many world leaders have fallen silent or, entangled in the complexities of political calculations, their tongues have been stricken with the stammer of expediency, your clear and courageous voice in condemning the bombing of the innocent, delegitimizing the killing of defenseless people, and supporting justice and freedom has shone like a light in the heart of this dark night."
He continued, "We in the Islamic seminaries value these moral and humanitarian stances of yours and believe that:
First: You remained faithful to the true mission of Christianity, for Jesus Christ (a.s.)—whom we Muslims consider one of the arch-prophets of God, and in whom we have faith and love—was a messenger of peace, mercy, and the defense of the oppressed. What you utter today is a manifestation of that same mission that Christ (a.s.) carried. You have shown today that the Vatican's seat can be a place for the cry of justice, not an altar of silence in the face of oppression. There is a strong expectation from scholarly, seminary, and academic centers, and from all monotheists and the oppressed of the world, that Your Eminence will continue and pursue these stances and defend the oppressed of the world.
Second: You have proven that the religious conscience is alive. In an age when many seek to marginalize religion from the scene of humanity's moral life and consider it a private and inconsequential matter, your stance in defense of the lives of innocent people is living proof that the religious conscience can still be the strongest moral voice in the world. The threat of divine punishment to the oppressors, spoken by you, recalls that common tradition of the prophets who never remained silent before the tyrants.
Third: We extend our hand to you for interfaith dialogue in defense of humanity and divine values. The Noble Qur'an calls us to the common word among religions. Today, that common word is the defense of the sanctity of human life and standing against crime and oppression. We declare from the position of the seminaries that we are ready for deeper cooperation with the Vatican to transform this moral consensus into a widespread movement in defense of the world's oppressed. I recall the previous dialogues between the Qom Seminary and the Vatican and announce our readiness for their continuation.
We believe that the divine prophets—from Abraham, Moses, and Jesus to Muhammad (peace of God be upon them all)—were all nourished from a single spring of light, and their mission was the defense of human dignity, the fight against oppression, and the guidance of humanity. What you and we do today is the fulfillment of this same shared trust, and it will be recorded in history.
We beseech Almighty God—whom Jews, Christians, and Muslims all invoke—to sustain this moral courage in religious institutions, to awaken it in international bodies and governments of the world, and to bring the day when the voice of justice prevails over the clamor of bombs and demons."
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