Texas Faith: What piece of advice would you give the new pope?

With  a solid following of 1.2 Billion, he can influence people of faith, and no  faiths to build bridges. The Muslim-Christian, Jewish-Christian, and  Hindu-Christian conflicts are deep and irreconcilable, but not completely out of  the realm of solutions. These conflicts are gnawing the communities in their  hearts and minds and flare up now and then in difficult expressions - Mike Ghouse

TEXAS FAITH: What piece of advice would you give the new pope?
By Wayne Slater/Reporter | wslater@dallasnews.com | 12:06 pm on March 19, 2013 

In taking the name Pope Francis, the new pontiff made a conscious decision that reflects two different aspects of spirituality. He is a Jesuit, an order that embraces the intellect, but he also has invoked the Franciscan ideal of care for the poor. One is the head, the other the heart.

The two Catholic orders haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on things – but together they mirror qualities important to any successful faith tradition. Complexity and simplicity — attention to charity and selfless service as well as to doctrine and intellectual discernment.

With the formal start of his papacy on Tuesday, Pope Francis faces considerable challenges within the Catholic church. But as the leader of the world’s largest Christian church, with 1.2 billion members worldwide, the pope has influence beyond the boundaries of the church itself. How should he use it?

What is one piece of advice you would give the new pope? What single thing could he do to make a tangible difference to you and the people you know? If the pope asked, what would you tell him he should do?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, and Speaker on interfaith matters, diversity and pluralism

Pope  Francis is singularly the most influential person on the world stage besides the  President of the United States who can affect positive or negative outcomes in a  given society. He can aggravate the conflicts or mitigate them and become a  Blessed peacemaker.

I  hope and pray that he heralds a new beginning for building a better world for  the humanity without distinction. After all he represents the man from the  Galilee and hopefully follows him in embracing the whole humanity.

Thanks  to the Cardinals for taking the right step in appointing a Jesuit Pope, ending  the age old conflict between the two factions, now they can see eye to eye. It’s healthy  part of repentance and forgiveness to move forward with a clean  slate.

With  a solid following of 1.2 Billion, he can influence people of faith, and no  faiths to build bridges. The Muslim-Christian, Jewish-Christian, and  Hindu-Christian conflicts are deep and irreconcilable, but not completely out of  the realm of solutions. These conflicts are gnawing the communities in their  hearts and minds and flare up now and then in difficult expressions.

I  would suggest a two-track approach to the pope.

The  theory part would be to initiate a purposeful dialogue with each group, with an  objective of learning to respect the otherness of others for peaceful  co-existence. As a starter, the Christian Muslim Conflict mitigation is listed  at the site www.WorldMuslimCongress.com

The  practical side of the equation would entail calling on people of faith (and  no faith) to serve together in poverty reduction, healthcare, potable water and  basic common educational programs.  Let each unit be consciously represented by all, eventually the feeling  of doing good together will minimize the conflicts and nurtures goodwill among  people.  

Pope Francis has what it  takes. I pray and hope that his strong background of living an austere life with a focus on poverty elimination and serving God’s creation will be a catalyst for  the change. He has got to initiate a dialogue in gender equality, same sex  marriage, birth control and other biting social issues.

As  a Muslim and a Pluralist, I welcome Pope Francis, and make myself available to jump at his  call for creating peace in the world, where no human has to live in fear of the  others, let the world be the new kingdom of heaven where we all feel safe and  secure with each other. Amen!

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....... Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.