His Holiness Pope Francis
According to the current world political situation, which is characterized by a flare-up of religious intolerance, I, as former Lord Mayor of the holy city of Mashhad / Iran, who has been married to a Catholic woman from Germany for 53 years and father of two children continuously living in Germany since 1979, would like to turn personally to your holiness.
From the beginning of His Holiness’s term of office, I have followed your activities and found a personality in you that has seen and endured much suffering himself and thus has the ability to sympathize and empathize with the weak and suffering of the world in the office of the head of the Catholic Church, understanding what moves these people.
From a global political point of view, the world is literally sitting on a powder keg. Geopolitical power interests of traditional world powers USA / Israel, Great Britain and Russia interfere with those of emerging global players such as China, Europe, India. Irresponsible and untrustworthy leaders such as Trump, Putin, Netanyahu, Rouhani / Khamenei, Kim Jong Un, Orban, etc., are expected to decide the future of our fragile world. Under these circumstances, spoiling is almost inevitable.
The US president, Donald Trump, who obviously, with the plans and support of Netanyahu and Putin, arrived at this position follows the goals that are in fact directed against the United States and the European Union and elsewhere.
The state of Israel has created structures of terrorist groups such as IS, whose goal is to eliminate the foundation of the life and historical roots of the masses of the people of Islamic lands such as Libya, Syria, Iraq, etc.
The main beneficiary from these acts is primarily the state of Israel. In the meanwhile, they also weaken the European Union in various ways, in particular, by creating insecurity and strengthening of the right-wing groups through fragmentaation.
Why should the Jewish people all over the world be once the future punished for the excessive ambition and misconduct of the likes of Netanyahu and several others who seem to consider themselves Jewish (such as Khomeini and Khamenei, who considered themselves Muslim)?
In the course of the different strategies, the scenario „Islamic world“ was conjured by the so-called western world from a fascistic, misanthropic magic bag. The goal is to spark a new worldwide war of religions. It is no longer about the West versus the East or the US on Russia, but about sharing the world in an Islamic and a Christian-Jewish world. Such a war would be fatal for our planet. This would be flammable beyond all borders, would be most destructive in the face of weapons technology and most likely endless. Once again, as a victim of politics, the world citizens would have to endure all the suffering of the war and pay for it with their own blood.
The solution, as is often the case, is with the institutions. The Islamic world has been ready for reform for 1400 years. And governments that call themselves Islamic Republic or preservers of Islam need to be deposed or led on the trail of the true faith, forgiveness, reconciliation and the right path of respectful life together and side by side.
The Christian world, under the valued guidance of Your Holiness, is also here to remove the destructive power from this political activity.
We find that many people who have called themselves Christians in the face of grave offenses within the church, today are struggling and moving away from the Catholic Church. As a result, they are often easy prey for demagogues, as recently presented by the German political party AfD and other right-wing populists in Europe.
This blemish on the abuse of children and women in the Church, which has recently been hounded by the global press and has put the Church and His Holiness in distress, is also part of the strategy to destroy world peace from the grassroots. The Maria 2.0 campaign is also part of this strategy.
Even though I was born into the Muslim community and spent my youth as a devout Muslim, today as a citizen of the world, I have great respect for the great religions. The true and pure faith gives people worldwide the power to truly master life, to treat others with respect and to help one another in difficult times. World history has many examples of people living peacefully side by side and having helped each other regardless of religion. Unfortunately, we also have the many religious wars that prove the opposite. But in today’s world, rather the good examples matter, not the negative ones.
Therefore, as we regularly criticize the inhumane excesses of the Islamic Republic, I urge your Holiness to cease, enlighten or reform celibacy that contradicts human nature, the abominable abuse in the Catholic Church and the long-standing equality of women in church offices, thereby rebuilding the credibility of the Church for many millions of disappointed and desperate believers and to lead the Church in a strong unity with the cosmopolitan Muslims and Jews against the destructive plans of power-hungry politicians.
As a sign of appreciation of your time, please allow me and my wife Justine to present to Your Holiness a copy of her book „Not Without My Husband“ that was introduced to the Leipzig Book Fair in 2006 and contains a biography of 53 years of life of a German Catholic woman with her Muslim husband, who was selected in two periods to Lord Mayor of Mashhad, one of the top five Muslim holy cities in the world.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your support for the flood victims in Iran and pray for divine assistance in the fulfillment of your purpose for the Christian world and wish you success and a happy hand in your decisions.
Massoud Harun-Mahdavi
Ex-Lord Mayor of Mashhad