His Holiness Pope Shenouda III opens his speech with thanks and welcome for the warm reception and hospitality he received in this noble country, expressing that the reception itself is a strong message about peace and fraternity that surpasses many words.

Core idea: the meaning of peace and fraternity

• His Holiness affirms that peace is a beautiful hymn echoed in people’s hearts and a pillar for the peace of societies, states, and individuals.

• He explains that peace in Islam and Christianity is a name and attribute of God — the source of peace and the King of Peace — and that it is a necessary condition for a calm and productive life.

• He lists types of peace: peace with God (keeping the commandments), peace with people (love and lasting reconciliation), and inner heart peace which an individual cannot do without.

Spiritual dimension and historical examples

• His Holiness cites examples from Islamic history that demonstrate a spirit of tolerance and good treatment of people of other religions (such as the stance of Umar ibn al-Khattab and the Najran covenant and other charters).

• He emphasizes that Christianity teaches love even for enemies, and that treating others with love overcomes evil with good.

Conditions of tolerance and its practical behavior

• Tolerance has psychological and spiritual foundations: broad-mindedness, spaciousness of heart, patience, and the love that binds people to each other.

• He calls for self-control, gentleness, and calm as signs of inner strength, while anger is a sign of weakness that needs review.

• He stresses respect for freedom of conscience and non-coercion in religion, and that the message should be conveyed with wisdom and good exhortation.

Describing interfaith relations in daily life

• He notes that the Qur’an and the Sunnah call for kind treatment of the People of the Book, preserving covenants and charters, and doing justice and beneficence to those who did not fight you in religion.

• He calls for coexistence to be a radiant image of religion that attracts people to it by love and affection.

Spiritual-educational conclusion

Living in peace and fraternity requires practical and spiritual virtues: love, tolerance, self-control, and wisdom in dealing with others. In this way religion appears in a lovable and beneficial form for society.

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