Pope Francis has failed to understand the situation in Jerusalem

He may be infallible in matters apostolic but the Pope continues to err on matters temporal. Francis is both an extraordinarily humble pontiff and one given to superfluous, non-doctrinal pronouncements that elevate his personal worldview. His ‘Jerusalem proclamation’, signed on Sunday with Moroccan king Mohammed VI, is another example of the slender line between pontificating and politicking. On the face of it, this is a bland document, something to announce as the Pope continues his admirable work to strengthen relations with other religions.

Earlier during his two-day visit to Rabat, the Holy Father spoke of the importance of religious liberty and exhorted believers to ‘live as brothers’ and ‘oppose fanaticism’. He impressed upon the faithful that the Church ‘grows not through proselytism but by attraction’, sound advice for Morocco’s 23,000 Catholics since they live in a country that is 99 per cent Sunni Muslim and where ‘shaking the faith of a Muslim’ is a crime punishable by up to three years in the slammer.