BICOM

Pope Francis called on the world’s religious leaders to reject war and “commit ourselves against the logic of armed power” in his visit to the UAE, the first ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula.

The Pope met yesterday with Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In a Tweet, the Crown Prince said they discussed: “Enhancing cooperation, consolidating dialogue, tolerance, human coexistence & important initiatives to achieve peace, stability and development for peoples and societies.”

Before the visit, the Pope had expressed concern about the war in Yemen, of which the UAE is a major player. He said: “The population [in Yemen] is exhausted by the length conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger.” At an interfaith meeting the Pope also expressed concern over events in Libya, Iraq and Syria.

The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, welcomed the Pope’s prayers. In a Tweet he called on 2019 to be “the year of peace in Yemen”.

This morning, the Pope held a Mass at the Zayed Sports City, attended by over 100,000 people. Bucking the trend in much of the region, the UAE is ranked third among countries with the fastest growing Christian population, according to The Economist. The country has a new cathedral, 16 new churches and 700 christian congregations.

The Pope also met with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of the highest seat of learning for Sunni Muslims at Cairo’s al-Azhar mosque. They signed a Document on Human Fraternity which “invites all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work together”.

Writing on the visit in The New York Times, Jason Horowitz described Pope Francis as: “Exceptionally candid for a pope who as a general rule does not criticise the country that hosts him and avoids drawing undue attention to the issues that its rulers would rather not discuss,” a reference to the Pope’s remarks on Yemen.