Prince Hassan concludes official visit to Vatican, Rome and Florence

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hassan, chairperson of the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies’ board of trustees, on Saturday concluded his official visit to the Vatican, Rome and Florence.

During his visit, Prince Hassan, accompanied by HRH Princess Sarvath, met Pope Francis along with other religious figures, and participated in a number of conferences, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

In Florence, Prince Hassan attended a forum under the theme “Brotherhood Day” organised by Opera di Santa Croce to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the meeting of St Francis Assisi with the Sultan of Egypt Al Malik Al Kamil Al Ayoubi.

Prince Hassan, during the event attended by Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, stressed the role of Muslim-Christian dialogue in bolstering the values of diversity, pluralism and mutual respect and stopping ethnic and religious fanaticism.

Prince Hassan also lauded Pope Francis’ initiative to rebuild the global educational pact, highlighting the importance of establishing a “real” alliance among cultures, Petra, said.

Highlighting the importance of the wisdom of the past, Prince Hassan called for making the ancient manuscripts and sacred and historical texts available to all.

During his visit, Prince Hassan also took part in the “Human and environmental sustainability in the age of global and climate changes conference” organised by Florence University in cooperation with West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, which is under the prince’s chairmanship.

Prince Hassan called for addressing climate change through a holistic approach to develop radical solutions to this phenomenon.