In the latest in their series of Working Papers, Mitchell Institute International Advisory Board Member Ambassador Akbar Ahmed and co-authors Frankie Martin and Dr Amineh Hoti, make the case for the beatification of Pope Francis.  They argue that in the finest human sense, he has acted and thought and behaved in closest proximity to the core tenets of his faith as the proverbial saint.  Just his act of falling to his knees before freshly arrived refugees, desperate with fear and uncertainty, to wash and kiss their feet in an expression of love and humility earns him that affirmation.  He has been a pioneer not only of dialogue between faiths, but of a warm and effusive embrace of all of humanity.

Read the Working Paper here.

 

Author biographies

Akbar Ahmed is Distinguished Professor and the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC, and Wilson Center Global Fellow.  He is a member of the International Advisory Board for the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.  He was described as the “world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” by the BBC.  Among his many books are his quartet of studies examining the relationship between the West and Islamic world published by Brookings Institution Press: Journey into Islam (2007), Journey into America (2010), The Thistle and the Drone (2013), and Journey into Europe (2018).

Frankie Martin is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology at American University.  He was senior researcher for Akbar Ahmed’s previous quartet of Brookings Institution Press studies on the relationship between the West and Islamic world and holds an MPhil in Anthropology from the University of Cambridge.  His writing has appeared in outlets including Foreign Policy, CNN, the Guardian, and Anthropology Today.

Dr Amineh Ahmed Hoti is Fellow-Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge and Governor, St. Mary’s School, Cambridge.  She was also a senior researcher for Akbar Ahmed’s quartet of Brookings Institution Press studies on Western-Islamic relations.  She received her PhD from the University of Cambridge and co-founded and directed the world’s first Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations at Cambridge.  Her most recent book is Gems and Jewels: The Religions of Pakistan (2021).