In his Eid message, Pope Francis has urged Christians and Muslims to work together to promote mutual respect, particularly by educating new generations of believers.
The pontiff greeted Muslims around the world during his Sunday blessing of pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square in Rome.
Pope Francis has urged Christians and Muslims to work together to promote mutual respect
Pope Francis said that “our brothers” the Muslims had just concluded their holy month of Ramadan, dedicated to fasting, prayer and alms-giving.
The Pope spoke from his studio window overlooking the square.
Pope Francis, who has made caring for the poor the landmark theme of his pontificate, addressed tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in scorching summer heat.
Unlike his predecessors who spent their summers in the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo outside the Italian capital, where the weather is slightly cooler, Pope Francis has chosen to continue working at the Vatican during the summer holidays.
Pope Francis is preparing major reforms of the Vatican bureaucracy as a result of scandals involving Vatican finances and clerical abuse of minors.
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Women in Pakistan’s north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been barred from shopping without a male relative.
The decision was made by Islamic clerics and tribal elders during a meeting at a mosque in Karak district and announced over its loudspeaker.
Most women in Pakistan’s tribal north-west cover their heads and bodies.
The step is reportedly aimed at keeping men from being distracted during the holy month of Ramadan. It is not clear whether it will be lifted when it ends.
The annual period of fasting and prayer this year falls in July.
Pakistani women banned from shopping alone
One cleric and tribal elder said the ban would be publicized using local mosques’ loudspeakers.
“We have decided that women will not visit bazaars without a male relative,” the cleric, Maulana Mirzaqeem, was quoted as telling AFP news agency.
“Those who will visit markets without male relatives will be handed over to police.
“They spread vulgarity and spoil men’s fasting in Ramadan.”
The clerics have requested police help enforce their ban and called on shopkeepers not to serve unaccompanied women.
One told Reuters news agency he feared the ban would be bad for business and the region’s reputation.
“We never supported this ban and convened a meeting on Wednesday to protest over the clerics’ decision,” Reuters quoted the trader, Munwar Khan, as saying.
