Pope Francis' Legacy: A Call for Peace and Interreligious Dialogue

Pope Francis' Legacy: A Call for Peace and Interreligious Dialogue

On April 24, 2025, a discussion took place on the “Nachtflug” program about the pontificate of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday. In the round with the discussion partners Eva Schütz, Bernhard Heinzlmaier and Ralf Schöllhammer, Francis' commitment to peace and interreligious understanding was honored. Nevertheless, critical comments were also made about his attempts at reform within the church and his supposedly one-sided political stance.

Schöllhammer in particular advocated for a conservative successor, who should ideally be an African cardinal with a clear stance. The second part of the discussion focused on society's approach to religion. Heinzlmaier was critical of Islam, which he describes as ideologically influenced and prone to violence, and sees today's Catholicism as largely disempowered.

Dialogue with non-Christians

In his posts, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of calling on Christian believers to treat members of non-Christian religions with warmth, sociability and fraternity. He made this request during an audience of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. He spoke about the challenges of the contemporary world, which is often not fraternal and sociable, and urged to choose dialogue as a means between indifference and violent protest. In this context he also quotes his encyclical “Fratelli tutti”.

Francis describes humanity as part of a large mosaic that only creates a complete picture through collaboration and community. He sees sociability as a way to design a shared future and overcome social fragmentation, while respecting each other's identities.

Interreligious dialogues and future congresses

At a congress of leaders of world and traditional religions held in Kazakhstan on September 15, 2022, Francis spoke again about the need for interreligious dialogue. In his speech, he made it clear that people and their well-being take precedence over strategic and economic goals. He emphasized the importance of the family and called for the needs of children, young people and older people to be taken into account.

The Congressional Declaration highlights pluralism and differences in religion, color, gender, race and language as an expression of the divine will and includes 35 points to continue dialogue activities. Francis calls on leaders to abandon aggressive rhetoric and end conflict, building on the 2019 Abu Dhabi Declaration.

The next congress is planned for 2025 in Nur-Sultan, and Francis remains a central figure in the push for interreligious understanding. His message of promoting dialogue and paying attention to human values ​​remains highly relevant even after his death.