Timor-Leste will be the first country in the world to adopt The Human Fraternity document, a document promoting peace and harmony between Christians and Muslims that has been endorsed by both Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar. The “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together,” was signed on February 4, 2019, in Abu Dhabi during the pope’s visit to the United Arab Emierates. It seeks to promote a “culture of mutual respect” between the religions.
All 60 parliamentarians at the plenary session of the Parliament of Timor-Leste on May 12 agreed to the adoption of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together. It was presented to the Parliament by then President-elect Jose Ramos-Horta, who also hopes to implement in the school curriculum to maintain interfaith harmony and peace. Ramos-Horta has actively lobbied lawmakers for its adoption. He also discussed it with former prime minister Mari Alkatiri, a Muslim, during their meeting on April 28. Ramos-Horta is a committee member for the 2022 Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity. In October last year, he had a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican where he received a copy of the document directly from the Holy Father.
Ramos-Horta originally received the Document from Pope Francis personally, when he joined the jury for the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, created in honor of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.
“Timor-Leste will be the first country in the world to adopt the document into the school curriculum,” he said. “It will teach school children about religion, ethnicity, social class and political tolerance in society,”
The official state announcement regarding the adoption was made on May 20 as part of the inauguration of the president-elect.
Ramos-Horta said it was important for Timor-Leste as a Catholic-majority country in Asia to maintain its reputation “as a country free from religiously motivated violence.”
Of Timor-Leste’s 1.3 million population, Catholics make up 97 percent while Muslims comprise under 1 percent.
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