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Pope Francis’ Fake “Interreligious Dialogue” with the Muslim World
Vatican News recently announced Pope Francis’ upcoming “Apostolic Journey to Morocco, whose theme is hope.” Before spending March 30-31 in Morocco, Francis is also scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates. “Pope Francis will meet the leader of Moroccan Muslims,” Vatican News continues, “800 years after the meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil of Egypt.”
Francis has been even more vocal in drawing continuity between himself and his namesake, Francis of Assisi. In a recent address, he said that his visit to the two Muslim nations “represent two important opportunities to advance interreligious dialogue and mutual understanding between the followers of both religions, in this year that marks the eight-hundredth anniversary of the historic meeting between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil.”
What exactly was “historic” about this meeting? And how does it relate to Pope Francis’ efforts “to advance interreligious dialogue and mutual understanding?” Exploring these questions offers useful lessons, including on past and present approaches to Islam.
Before proceeding, it should be understood that Pope Francis often portrays himself as walking in the footsteps of his chosen namesake, Francis of Assisi—“the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” as Jorge Mario Bergoglio explained in 2013 when he became pope as to why he had adopted the name of Francis.
As for what the pope is characterizing as a “historic meeting between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil,” here is the story: After centuries of Islamic invasions that saw the conquest of at least two-thirds of Christian territory—as documented in my recent Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West—Europeans finally began to push back via the Crusades in the late eleventh century.
In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and a fellow companion sought to do their part by traveling to the Middle East, where they sought audience with Sultan al-Kāmil. They went despite al-Kāmil’s vow that “anyone who brought him the head of a Christian should be awarded with a Byzantine gold piece,” to quote from St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims, a good primer on the topic by Frank M. Rega (a Franciscan).
St. Francis’ contemporaries also warned him that Muslims “were a mean people who thirst for Christian blood and attempt even the most brazen atrocities.” The determined men continued their journey, only to experience the inevitable:
The early documents are unanimous in agreeing that the two Franciscans were subjected to rough treatment upon crossing Muslim territory. The men of God were seized in a violent manner by the sentries, assaulted, and bound in chains. Celano reports that Francis “was captured by the Sultan’s soldiers, was insulted and beaten” yet showed no fear even when threatened with torture and death.
What was the purpose of St. Francis’ dangerous mission? Was he, as Pope Francis regularly implies, trying “to advance interreligious dialogue and mutual understanding?” Yes and no. He certainly relied on the word, not the sword. But the word he offered was as sharp as any sword. As Rega writes, “Fully aware of the dangers, Francis was determined to go on a mission to the unbelievers of the Muslim nations. The primary sources are in agreement that he was now ready to sacrifice his life and die for Christ, so there can be little doubt that the intent of his journey was to preach the Gospel even at the risk of martyrdom” (emphasis added).Francis sought to save both souls and lives: “Converting the Muslims by his preaching was the ultimate goal of Francis’ efforts, and a peaceful end to the war would be a consequence of their conversion.” As Christoph Maier explains, “Francis, like the crusaders, wanted to liberate the holy places in Palestine from Muslim rule. What was different was his strategy…. He wanted their total submission to the Christian faith.”
Eventually brought before Sultan al-Kāmil, the monks sought to “demonstrate to the Sultan’s wisest counselors the truth of Christianity, before which Mohammed’s law [Sharia] counted for nothing.” For “if you die while holding to your law,” warned Francis, “you will be lost; God will not accept your soul. For this reason we have come to you.”
Intrigued by the cheeky friars, “the Sultan called in his religious advisers, the imams.” However, and as often happens today when Muslim debaters are at a loss for words, “they refused to dispute with the Christians and instead insisted that they be killed [by beheading], in accordance with Islamic law.”
The sultan refused: “I am going counter to what my religious advisers demand and will not cut off your heads… you have risked your own lives in order to save my soul.”
During their disputation and in reference to “the centuries-old Muslim conquest and occupation of lands, peoples, and nations that had once been primarily Christian,” al-Kāmil sought to trap the monks with their own logic: if Jesus had taught Christians to “turn the other cheek” and “repay evil with good,” he inquired, why were “Crusaders … invading the lands of the Muslims?”
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