The document is concerned with how different faiths can live peaceably in the same world and areas. It is not only a document of theology, but mostly, as St. Paul advised to do, a document of irenics:
Francis and Tayeb "declare the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path; mutual cooperation as the code of conduct; reciprocal understanding as the method and standard."
They called on world leaders "to work strenuously to spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace; to intervene at the earliest opportunity to stop the shedding of innocent blood and bring an end to wars, conflicts, environmental decay and the moral and cultural decline that the world is presently experiencing."
They asked leaders and would-be influencers "to rediscover the values of peace, justice, goodness, beauty, human fraternity and coexistence in order to confirm the importance of these values as anchors of salvation for all, and to promote them everywhere."
They said that "Terrorism is deplorable and threatens the security of people, be they in the East or the West, the North or the South, and disseminates panic, terror and pessimism, but this is not due to religion, even when terrorists instrumentalize it. It is due, rather, to an accumulation of incorrect interpretations of religious texts and to policies linked to hunger, poverty, injustice, oppression and pride."
Details
The document suggests one chain of causality for religious and national extremism: "a moral deterioration" in international action and "a weakening of spiritual values" leading to "frustration, isolation and desperation", leading some to fall "into a vortex of extremism", leading some to "individual or collective self-destruction". The body of the document has a paragraph to uphold each of these values:
"peace";
"freedom of every person";
"justice based on mercy";
"dialogue" in order to promote "peace" and "tolerance", noting that "ialogue among believers" needs to avoid "unproductive discussions";
"protection of places of worship";
the necessity "to stop terrorism", particularly naming "financing, the provision of weapons", and "using media to justify" terrorism;
"protection of the rights of the elderly, the weak, the disabled, and the oppressed".
Response and criticism
Diversity of religions
Most commentary focus on "novel theological formulations and questionable assertions of facts", particularly on the passage about God's will with regard to the diversity of religions: Chad Pecknold, a systematic theologian at the Catholic University of America, assesses this claim as "fitting" "n sensitive inter-religious contexts, but some may find it puzzling to hear the Vicar of Christtalk about God willing the diversity of religions". Adam Rasmussen, an openly "pro-Francis partisan" at Georgetown University, hails "the pope's praiseworthy attempt" by quoting "St. Teresa", Nostra aetate and Evangelii gaudium, thereby suspecting "that Francis may be at least somewhat familiar with his fellow Jesuit" Jacques Dupuis and his book Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. In contrast to this ardent defender, Athanasius Schneider corrects the Vicar of Christ under reference to Holy Scripture, Tertullian, Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Saint Athanasius, Saint Augustine, the Magisterium, the Apostles and Christian martyrs, as well as the Roman Liturgy — viz. the hymn of Lauds of the Feast of Christ the King: Since the beginning of Christianity, the divisiveness by "numerous doctrinal errors and inaccuracies has serious theological and canonical implications": "A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject."
Francis' attitude towards Islam
Similar to Guy Pagès, who passed criticism on Evangelii gaudium, William Kilpatrick attacked "this bowdlerized view of Islam" in broader terms. He believes that Tayeb committed himself to promises that are at odds with Islamic belief, notably that the statement's espousal of religious freedom contradicts Islamic apostasy law and that the Koran prescribes the use of violence. He said "it's unlikely that the Muslim parties will stick to their end of the bargain", that the document "seems to have been written almost entirely in Rome", and was an extension of efforts on the part of the Church, and especially Pope Francis, "geared to obfuscating the dangerous differences while emphasizing the surface similarities between Christianity and Islam". "This is not what Muslim converts want to hear from their pope." Since 2017, converted Catholics of Muslim origin ask: "That the Pope seems to propose the Quran as a way of salvation, is that not cause for worry?"
