“We have to maintain and sustain,” the pope told the jury while putting stress on spreading global fraternity
His Holiness Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, met the jury of the third edition of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity at the Vatican on Wednesday. While discussing the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity 2022, the pope emphasized over the importance of jury work for the Award and its impact on the world.
Pope Francis recalled his historic meeting with His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He described it as the “first step” in the path of human fraternity.
“We have to maintain and sustain,” he told the jury while putting stress on spreading global fraternity.
The ZAHF judging committee members expressed deep appreciation to the pope for his support to the committee and the noble mission. The committee affirmed that their judging process relies on the values of the ‘Document on Human Fraternity’ signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in 2019 in Abu Dhabi, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and patron of ‘Document on Human Fraternity’.
The independent jury committee for Zayed Award for Human Fraternity 2022 includes former president of Nigeria and winner of the 2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership H.E. Mahamadou Issoufou; 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of East Timor H.E. José Ramos-Horta, former Deputy President of South Africa and former UN Under-Secretary-General H.E. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Holy See H.Em. Cardinal Michael Czerny, president of the Aladdin Project Leah Pisar, and Secretary-General of the Higher Committee on Human Fraternity (HCHF) Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam.
Commenting on the meeting, Judge Abdelsalam, former advisor to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and the first Arab Muslim to receive the Catholic pope’s highest honor, said: “It is an honor for the judging committee to meet with His Holiness Pope Francis, whose joint path of human fraternity alongside the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar serves as inspiration to the committee and to the world, which is suffering from humanitarian and health crises, as well as the plagues of selfishness, inequality, and injustice.”
Established in February 2019, the award, which is granted by the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity to mark the historic meeting between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, where the two great personalities signed the Document on Human Fraternity and became the first honorary recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity
After Pope Francis’ visit the ZAHF jury held its first in-person meeting in Rome to discuss evaluation mechanism to decide the 2022 awardees.
The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity aims at advancing human fraternity values. Pope Francis called it “the challenge of our century” while recognising individuals and entities who have made profound contributions to advancing human fraternity values and peaceful coexistence.
Established in February 2019, the award, which is granted by the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity to mark the historic meeting between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, where the two great personalities signed the Document on Human Fraternity and became the first honorary recipients of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.
Wednesday’s meeting between Pope Francis and the jury was organized by the HCHF, which grants the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity annually. The HCHF is an independent international committee instituted to promote human fraternity values around the world and to fulfill the aspirations of the Document on Human Fraternity.
The nomination process for the ZAHF 2022 is scheduled to close on December 1, 2021 and names of the award winners will be announced on February 4, 2022. Nominations can be made by qualified nominators through the official website of the Zayed Award of Human Fraternity, https://zayedaward.org/.
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