Middle Eastern Christian and Muslim political and religious leaders paid tribute to Pope Francis, who had made it his mission to promote tolerance, dialogue, justice and peace in a region savaged by wars, uprisings and poverty.
Cairo’s Al-Azhar Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb – who presides over the chief institution of Sunni learning – called the late pontiff “a dear friend [who] dedicated his life to serving humanity, advocating for the oppressed, refugees, and the marginalised, and promoting dialogue and understanding among religions and cultures”.
During his papacy, Francis travelled to nine countries in the Middle East and North Africa, stretching from west to east, visiting Morocco, the Emirates, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Palestine and Israel.
Cultivating ties between Christians and Muslims, he urged Christians to remain in their homelands despite discrimination and instability.
His first regional visit was in May 2014 to Jordan, Palestine and Israel, which he regarded as his pilgrimage to the holy land, where Christianity was born. Six months later, Pope Francis prayed alongside Istanbul’s chief cleric Rahmi Yaran in the 17th century Blue Mosque.
Their fraternal image contrasted with the legacy of the European Christian Crusades of the 11th and 13th centuries, sponsored by popes, to wrest the eastern holy lands from Muslims.
Francis was the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula and the first to celebrate mass during a visit to Abu Dhabi in early 2019.
He also adopted the regional cause of Palestine. In 2015, the Vatican – which favours a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict – signed a treaty recognising the state of Palestine in the Israeli-occupied territories, where the Catholic church has major holy sites.
After Israel mounted its Gaza war in October 2023 following the Hamas-led attack on Israel, Francis held daily calls with Fr Gabriel Romanelli of the only Catholic church in Gaza. He also met families of Palestinians and Israeli hostages caught up in the Gaza war.
Last September, Pope Francis called Israel’s war on Gaza “disproportionate” and “immoral”. In November, he said: “We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition [of genocide] formulated by jurists and international bodies.”
While the ailing Francis stood on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday, an aide read his final statement, in which he called for an end to the “terrible conflict” in Gaza, which he said caused “death and destruction” and a “dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation”.
He appealed for the release of hostages and for the warring parties to “come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace”.
Francis’s predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II, also visited the region.
The first pope to travel by aeroplane as pontiff was Paul VI, who flew to Amman, Jordan, in January 1964 before travelling to Jerusalem. This was the first papal trip outside Europe.
