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Good morning. Pope Francis has recently returned from a historic visit to the United Arab Emirates – the first ever visit by a Pope to the Arabian Peninsula. In Francis’s words, it ‘wrote a new page in the history of dialogue between Christianity and Islam’. Peace and dialogue were major themes of his visit. Referring specifically to the wars in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya, he told a gathering of religious leaders that it was their duty, ‘as representatives of the world’s religions, … to reject every nuance of approval from the word “war”’. Another significant highlight was the signing of a Document on Human Fraternity with leading Sunni cleric, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyab. The document is wide-ranging and at times radical in the issues it covers. It affirms freedom of belief and says that human diversity, including ‘the pluralism and diversity of religions’ is willed by God. It refers to the ‘essential requirement’ to recognise the rights and dignity of women, and to the duty of the wealthy to care for the poor, the destitute and the marginalised. It calls on ‘all concerned to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism’. In these turbulent and anxious times, it’s easy to be sceptical about such lofty declarations of peace and unity. Yet I believe it’s a sign of hope when leaders extend the hand of reconciliation and friendship across the historical abyss of violence and bloodshed. The document takes risks, making claims which expose both leaders to criticism from religious conservatives in their respective communities. I find myself thinking of another visionary document – the Schuman Declaration of 1950. After the Second World War, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed the integration of German and French coal and steel production under a single authority, open to participation by other European states as well. The aim was ‘to make war unthinkable and materially impossible and to reinforce democracy’. The Schuman Declaration sowed the seeds of European unity. I dare to hope that this declaration between two great religious leaders might have similar unifying potential. If that potential is to be realized though, I believe that it is incumbent upon all those of us who belong to religious traditions to hold our leaders to their pledges, and to weave those visions of peace, dignity and dialogue into the fabric of our everyday lives.