By Philip Pullella
MANAMA, Bahrain -Pope Francis departed from Bahrain on Sunday after a four-day journey that culminated with a go to to the Gulf’s oldest Catholic church, the place he advised bishops, clergymen and nuns to stay united as they ministered to the trustworthy within the majority Muslim space.
The final occasion was at Sacred Coronary heart church, inbuilt 1939 on land donated by the then-ruler, placing Bahrain on the highway to turning into one of the accommodating international locations within the area for non-Muslims.
Bahrain has two Catholic church buildings, together with a contemporary cathedral that's the largest church on the Arabian Peninsula, and has about 160,000 Catholics, most of them overseas employees. Many Catholics additionally go to from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which bars public worship by non-Muslims.
Francis, who suffers from a knee ailment that pressured him to make use of a wheelchair throughout the journey, advised native Catholic leaders to keep away from factions, quarrels and gossip.
“Worldly divisions, but in addition ethnic, cultural and ritual variations, can not injure or compromise the unity of the Spirit,” he mentioned.
There are round 60 clergymen working amongst an estimated 2 million Catholics unfold throughout 4 international locations in North Arabia, mentioned Bishop Paul Hinder, the Vatican’s apostolic vicar for the realm, citing generally “very troublesome circumstances” for individuals who serve the group resulting from restrictions in some states.
On the finish of the church service, Pope Francis thanked King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for Bahrain’s “beautiful hospitality”.
King Hamad and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyeb, Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque and college who was additionally in Bahrain, greeted the pontiff on the airport earlier than he left for Rome, state TV confirmed.
Pope Francis’ go to, the place he closed an East-West dialogue hosted by Bahrain, continues his coverage of enhancing ties with the Islamic world following a historic go to to the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
Nevertheless it additionally drew consideration to tensions between Bahrain’s Sunni Muslim monarchy and the Shi’ite opposition that accuses the federal government of overseeing human rights abuses, a cost authorities deny.
The pope harassed human rights in his first handle in Bahrain, talking towards the dying penalty and calling for “guaranteeing respect and concern for all those that really feel most on the margins of society, resembling immigrants and prisoners”.
Foreigners, principally low-paid migrant employees, kind the spine of economies within the oil-producing area. Hundreds of Catholics in Bahrain and from across the Gulf poured right into a stadium to listen to the Pope say Mass on Saturday.
Later that day kin of death-row and life-sentence inmates in Bahrain, which crushed a pro-democracy rebellion in 2011, held a small protest alongside the pope’s motorcade route till policemen intervened to finish it.
On the East-West dialogue, the pontiff targeted on the position of religions in selling peace and disarmament. Earlier he touched on the “forgotten struggle” in Yemen the place seven years of battle has triggered a dire humanitarian disaster.
Post a Comment