ABU DHABI: Pope Francis, the first leader of the world’s 1.3 billionCatholics to visit the Arabian Peninsula, will attend an interfaith meetingin the UAE on Monday as part of his outreach to Muslims.
The pope’s highly publicized 48-hour visit to the United Arab Emirates willalso include an open-air mass on Tuesday for 135,000 of the Muslimcountry’s million Catholic residents.
The pontiff, who made history when he touched down in Abu Dhabi on Sundaynight, said he came “as a brother, in order to write a page of dialoguetogether, and to travel paths of peace together”.
The pope is expected to raise the issue of Yemen, devastated by a war inwhich the UAE is a key player, with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed binZayed.
Yemen is home to what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,triggered by the intervention of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies ina war between the government and Huthi rebels.
More than 10 million Yemenis now risk imminent starvation.
– Open-air altar –
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb — imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s prestigiousseat of learning — greeted the pope with an embrace on Sunday night as thepontiff arrived in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.
The emirate’s crown prince was also at the airport to greet the pontiff,who has made strengthening ties between Christianity and Islam acornerstone of his papacy.
Hours before he flies back to Rome on Tuesday, the pope will lead a mass ina stadium in the capital, which local media say will be the largest publicgathering ever in the UAE.
The UAE has dubbed 2019 its “year of tolerance”, but rights groups havecriticised the country for its role in Yemen, where an estimated 10,000people have been killed since the Saudi-led alliance including the UAEjoined the government’s fight against the Huthis in 2015.
Rights groups, which have slammed the UAE over its intolerance of dissent,have also urged the pope to raise the issue of Ahmed Mansoor, an Emiratiactivist serving a 10-year prison term.
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– Pope addresses Yemen war –
Before heading to the Gulf on Sunday, Pope Francis urged warring parties inYemen to respect a truce agreement and allow deliveries of food aid.
“The population is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great manychildren are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots,” he said.
“The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God.”
The pope and his host Sheikh Mohammed are also expected to discuss“terrorism” and violence.
The UAE, which prides itself on its religious tolerance and culturaldiversity, is a member of the US-led coalition battling the Islamic Stategroup in both Syria and Iraq.
The UAE has eight Catholic churches. Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four.
Qatar and Bahrain have one each, while ultra-conservative Sunni powerhouseSaudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship.
Muslims make up nearly four fifths of the UAE’s population, but the countryis also home to nearly a million Catholics, according to the ApostolicVicariate of Southern Arabia.
Migrants from Asian countries make up about 65 percent of the population. -APP/AFP
