The text of the message is as follows:

Just like the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Jesus Christ is known among the world to be the Messenger of God’s Mercy. These Messengers, to whom many religions and believers adhere across the world, have bestowed upon us many common teachings through which we will no longer be a witness to widespread crimes and hostilities occurring in today world as we act upon them.

 As noted in the Christmas message of Pope Francis, the leader of the World’s Catholics, our differences are not a detriment or a danger; they are a source of richness. But religious differences have become a pretext for widespread conflicts and violence; also racial bias has made some regimes act against people and residents of a region and kill many children and innocent people, denoting that these differences have become a pretext for arrogance and oppression against the deprived.

The anniversary of birth of Jesus Christ in this bitter time is a “new birth”[1] for all Christians as well as  Muslims which must be seized and be inspired by in order to thwart the maliciousness in the contemporary world and spread hope and mercy among people.

On behalf of the University of Religions and Denominations whose intellectual and cultural mission is to establish dialogue and tolerance to promote peace in the world, I congratulate this auspicious occasion to all the followers of Jesus Christ and all those who adhere to this Prophet of Mercy, and I do hope that we will be able to make the best use of our power and of this intellectual institution to expand the goals and ideals of the great leaders and prophets.

Sayyid Abulhasan Navab

The President of University of Religions and Denominations