4 Days in Bahrain – Highlights of Pope’s Visit
The Pope’s 39th Acts of the Apostles went to Bahrain last week. It was his first visit to Bahrain and his second visit to the Gulf.
He aimed to further strengthen his outreach to the Muslim community and support Bahrain’s small Christian minority.
Pope Francis and King
Francis’ first official visit was a courtesy call to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa at the Sakir Palace. There he was welcomed at his official ceremony.
human rights
Human rights and the constitution of Bahrain were particular issues Francis raised to the King.
Citing the Bahraini Constitution, he called for “equal dignity and equal opportunity…for each group and every individual.” (In Bahrain, Shias have fewer rights than Sunnis.)
He said this was “to ensure that basic human rights are promoted rather than violated.”
Freedom of religion “must be complete and not limited to freedom of worship.
“I am especially thinking about the right to life, the need to always guarantee it, even to those who have been punished.”
There are currently 26 people on death row in Bahrain. The only thing that stands between them and their execution is the king’s approval.
Francis also called for “humane working conditions” and condemned forced labor in neighboring Qatar, where the World Cup starts later this month.
Francis said that “men and women” should never “instead be reduced to mere means of creating wealth.”
join forces for peace
Peace can only be achieved by overcoming past conflicts, he said.
Instead, we need to join forces to advance our common good, Francis explained when he met with Bahrain’s Council of Muslim Elders on Friday.
This means getting to know each other and putting “the future of fraternity over the past of enmity…the name of the source of peace.”
A great religious tradition says, “It must be the mind that unites the members of the body, the soul that gives hope and life to the highest aspirations.”
Prior to the conference, Francis delivered one of three keynote addresses in the closing session of the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence.
About 200 persons, leaders and religious representatives from around the world attended the event.
Among them was Ahmad al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar in Egypt.
Like Francis, Imam gave the keynote address. Another was delivered by Forum patron King Hamad.
Francis said to the leaders of the religions, “not only in our communities and in our homes, it is no longer enough, but before the world is united and globalized, the exemplary model of what we preach.” I asked them to become
As members of the Abrahamic Faith, they must look outside themselves and “speak to the entire human community, to all who live on this earth.”
Unity in Diversity
An ecumenical prayer meeting for peace at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia was also on Francis’ agenda.
Striving for “unity in diversity” will help the entire Christian community achieve peace, he told Christian leaders at the meeting.
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https://cathnews.co.nz/2022/11/07/bahrain-papal-visit/ 4 Days in Bahrain – Highlights of Pope’s Visit