Pope Francis, Grand Imam of Egypt kiss for world peace. Photo: Internet Source

The pope and the grand imam of al-Azhar signed a historic declaration of fraternity, calling for peace between countries, religions and races, before an audience of religious leaders across the world from Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other different beliefs.

The two then kissed each other after signing the document on fighting extremism, during an inter-religious meeting at the Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2019

Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of Sunni Islam’s most renowned seat of learning, arrived at the ceremony in Abu Dhabi hand-in-hand in a symbol of interfaith fraternity, reports The Guardian.

The document pledges that al-Azhar and the Vatican will work together to battle extremism. Claiming to be in the name of “all victims of wars, persecution and injustice”, it warns against a “third world war being fought piecemeal.”

It says: “We resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood.”

The pope specifically called for an end to wars in the Middle East, naming Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya. All religious leaders had a “duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war,” he said in a 26-minute address.