On Saturday, November 30, Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) in Jordan Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader met with Director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni at his office in the Vatican.

During the meeting, Fr. Bader congratulated Mr. Bruni on his nomination as director of the Holy See Press Office months ago, and expressed hope that the cooperation between the Vatican media departments and Catholic information centers worldwide would be fulfilled, including the cooperation with the Latin Patriarchate-affiliated CCSM that presents media services to all Churches in the spirit of Christian unity without ignoring the fact of serving humanitarian issues as well as just and peaceful national stands.

For his part, Bruni recalled the visit of Pope Francis to the Holy Land and its first stop in Jordan, where he was at the time the organizer of the journalists, numbering 70, who were on board the papal plane. He said that it was his first experience five years ago in that position. He also praised the media facilities that were available at the time.

Both sides recalled the 25th anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Holy See. They also lauded the fact that these relations are characterized by friendship and cooperation in various cultural fields, as well as the participation in the distinguished interfaith dialogues conducted by the Vatican and Jordan for decades.

Fr. Bader had earlier participated in the city of Cagliari, the Italian Province of Sardinia, in an international conference on interfaith cooperation and delivered a working paper titled, "With the End of the Year of Tolerance, Where is the Train of Interfaith Dialogue Heading?” He also talked the Abu Dhabi “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh al-Azhar last February. He also touched on the 15-year old Amman Message which Jordan launched to explain the real image of religions free from accusations of terrorism.

Fr. Bader also held a number of press meetings during which he expressed hope that next year will witness more initiatives of cooperation and encounters between followers of religions, especially between Christians and Muslims in the Arab world and the entire world.