On March 6, 2021, Pope Francis had an inter-religious ceremony with leaders of Jews, Muslims, and representatives of other religions at Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, the common father of these religions.

He is on a small stage, blown in the dry winds, surrounded by a stark desert where Abraham came from. They’ve laid out a wide red carpet in the audience. Everyone is separated. There is a small stage. A large screen.

It is all centred around the covenant that God made with Abraham at Ur in Genesis 15, 4-6. In Genesis humanity had been dispersed with the Tower of Babel. It was the confusion of languages and the dispersion of humanity over all the earth (cf. Gn 11: 7-8).

At this point, with Abraham's call, the story of the blessing begins: it is the beginning of God's great plan to make humanity one family through the covenant with a new people, chosen by him to be a blessing among all the peoples (cf. Gn 12: 1-3). This divine plan is still being implemented; it culminated in the mystery of Christ.

The pope urged humanity to look to the stars, as Abraham did.

Opening words:

This blessed place brings us back to our origins, to the sources of God’s work, to the birth of our religions. Here, where Abraham our father lived, we seem to have returned home. It was here  that Abraham heard God’s call; it was from here that he set out on a journey that would change history. We are the fruits of that call and that journey. God asked Abraham to raise his eyes to heaven  and to count its stars (cf. Gen 15:5). In those stars, he saw the promise of his descendants; he saw us. Today we, Jews, Christians and Muslims, together with our brothers and sisters of other religions, honour our father Abraham by doing as he did: we look up to heaven and we journey on earth.

Music: Adrian Berenguer, Fall (Album Singularity, 2017)