ROME/ CAIRO — Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, and Dr. Ahmed Al Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar, have called for praying together for an end to the coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, praising the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity for launching the 'Pray For Humanity' initiative.

The Pope said people of all faiths and traditions are called to pray and fast together for delivery from the pandemic. "The Day of Prayer Against the Pandemic reminds us that we are all brothers and sisters, no matter our religious affiliation."

"Today, the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity has called for a day of prayer and fasting to ask the merciful God for an end to this tragic moment of the pandemic.

“We are all brothers and sisters. Everyone prays as they know how, as they can, according to what they have received from their culture. We aren’t praying against each other. We are united in humanity as brothers and sisters."

“This day of prayer against the pandemic must make us think also of many other pandemics. The pandemics of war, of hunger.”

"May God put an end to this tragedy — this pandemic — and have mercy on us. And may He put an end to the other terrible pandemics of hunger, war, and uneducated children. This we ask as brothers and sisters, all together. May God bless us all, and have mercy on us," the Pope said.

In Cairo, Dr. Al Tayeb, said the 'Pray For Humanity' call by the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity should be marked as a memorable occasion to promote amicability, worldwide.

The Grand Imam of Al Azhar said: "We should mark this day as a memorable occasion to be inscribed on the slate of human history and celebrate it every year with the purpose of promoting a world where amicability and diversity values prevail instead of fanaticism, bigotry, hate of the other, and discrimination among people on the basis of faith, color, race, and wealth."

In his statement, the Grand Imam said, “Now as we call the world today to turn to God, the Omnipotent, and draw closer to Him through worship and prayer, we likewise urge the entire humanity — under the common human bond that ties them all together — to work on rediscovering the values of justice, peace, coexistence, and equality among all humans.

In response to the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity (HCHF) calls to pray for humanity Thursday, May 14, people of all races, colors, ethnicities, and nationalities stood together in an unprecedented event to pray and supplicate to God for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to guide and inspire scientists find a vaccine.

From the very first moment the HCHF announced its great initiative, the call gained the blessing and support of the two most prominent religious leaders in the world; Dr. Al-Tayeb and Pope Francis and received the support of a number of kings, presidents, leaders, and leading political, religious, and media figures from all the world.

Judge AbdelSalam, secretary-general of the HCHF, held an online press conference on Monday, attended by Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, personal secretary of Pope Francis, and Irina Bokova, former director general of UNESCO during which he announced the details of the initiative in the presence of local and international media outlets.

AbdelSalam stated: “This support for the initiative is clear evidence that we can, especially when addressing common challenges, put aside our disagreements under the banner of our human fraternity.

“Believing that our common human values is the driving force for the HCHF’s members to announce the call to pray, fast and perform charitable work to rid mankind of this pandemic and its consequences.”

AbdelSalam also announced the launch of the official website of the ‘Pray for Humanity’ initiative (pray.forhumanfraternity.org), which will provide live coverage of the day and will serve as a digital archive for this historic day and future events of the HCHF.

The HCHF was established to implement the humanitarian principles advocated by the Document on Human Fraternity and engage all religious and international organizations in this process to achieve peace, coexistence, global citizenship and human fraternity. — Agencies