Then, Francis Took Bread, Broke It, And Gave It - To the Grand Imam
It divulges details about the genesis of Francis’ heretical Abu Dhabi Document which was signed by Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmad el-Tayyeb of al-Azhar (Cairo).
The first meeting between the two took place in the Apostolic Palace on 23 May 2016. This led to Francis’ trip to Egypt in April 2017.
On 7 November 2017, when Francis learned that the Grand Imam and Abdelsalam were in Rome, he invited them to meet and have lunch. After the meeting in the Apostolic Palace, Francis walked with them to Santa Marta in order to show them some beauties of the Vatican. "The Grand Imam and His Holiness walked hand in hand, in a very fraternal manner” – Abdelsalam remembers.
Before the lunch began, Francis "took a piece of bread and broke it in two,” Abdelsalam recounts, "He took one half and gave the other half to the Grand Imam, for everyone to eat, in a symbolic act of coexistence and human fraternity."
During the two-hours-lunch, Abdelsalam proposed drawing a “joint document on human brotherhood” towards “human tolerance and against extremism.” Everybody agreed.
The text was top secret until the 4 February 2019 signature in Abu Dhabi – at which Abdelsalam was not present. In the book, he doesn’t reveal the reason. Allegedly, due to pressure from sectors not happy with the [poorly drafted] text, he was also forced to step down as advisor to the Grand Imam.
Nevertheless, immediately after the signing of the document, Francis and the Imam phoned him thanking for his role.
In his foreword to Abdelsalam’s book, Francis calls the Imam his “brother,” and Abdelsalam his “son.”
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