Pope presses Muslim dialogue in first papal go to to Bahrain

Pope Francis is bringing his message of dialogue with the Muslim world to the dominion of Bahrain, the place the Sunni-led authorities is internet hosting an interfaith convention on East-West coexistence even because it stands accused of discriminating towards the nation’s Shiite majority.

Human rights teams and family of Shiite activists on demise row have urged Francis to make use of his go to, which begins Thursday, to name for an finish to the demise penalty and political repression in Bahrain. But it’s not clear if Francis will publicly embarrass his hosts throughout his four-day go to, the primary of any pontiff to the island nation within the Persian Gulf.

Francis has lengthy touted dialogue as an instrument of peace and believes a present of interfaith concord is required, particularly now given Russia’s conflict in Ukraine and regional conflicts, similar to in Yemen. On the eve of the journey, Francis requested for prayers in order that the journey will promote “the cause of brotherhood and of peace, of which our times are in extreme and urgent need.”

Workers carry chairs to be set at a stadium the place the Pope Francis will attend a Mass, in Manama, Bahrain, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (AP)

The go to is Francis’ second to a Gulf Arab nation, following his 2019 landmark journey to Abu Dhabi, the place he signed a doc selling Catholic-Muslim fraternity with a number one Sunni cleric, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. Al-Tayeb is the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni studying in Cairo. Francis adopted that with a 2021 go to to Iraq, the place he was obtained by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of many world’s pre-eminent Shiite clerics.

Francis will meet once more this week in Bahrain with al-Tayeb, in addition to different distinguished figures within the interfaith discipline who’re anticipated to attend the convention, which is analogous to 1 hosted final month by Kazakhstan that Francis and el-Tayeb additionally attended. Members of the regional Muslim Council of Elders, the non secular chief of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew, a consultant from the Russian Orthodox Church and rabbis from the United States are all anticipated, based on the Bahrain program.

The journey may also permit Francis to minister to Bahrain’s Catholic neighborhood, which numbers round 80,000 in a rustic of round 1.5 million. Most are staff hailing from the Philippines and India, although journey organizers anticipate pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and different neighboring international locations will attend Francis’ massive Mass on the nationwide stadium on Saturday.

An Emirati journalist takes footage by his cell phone contained in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia the place the Pope Francis will attend a Mass, in Manama, Bahrain, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (AP)

Bahrain is residence to the Gulf’s first Catholic Church, the Sacred Heart parish, which opened in 1939, in addition to its largest one, Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral. The church, with a capability of two,300, opened final yr within the desert city of Awali on land gifted to the church by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. In truth, the king introduced Francis with a mannequin of the church when he visited the Vatican in 2014 and prolonged the primary invitation to go to.

Francis will go to each church buildings throughout his go to and is prone to thank the king for the tolerance the federal government has lengthy proven Christians dwelling within the nation, notably when in comparison with neighboring Saudi Arabia, the place Christians can’t brazenly apply their religion.

“Religious liberty inside Bahrain is perhaps the best in the Arab world,” stated Bishop Paul Hinder, the apostolic administrator for Bahrain and different Gulf Arab international locations. “Even if everything isn’t ideal, there can be conversions (to Christianity), which aren’t at least officially punished like in other countries.”

An plane takes off from Fiumicino International Airport forward of Pope Francis’s departure to journey to Bahrain, close to Rome, Italy, November 3, 2022. (Reuters)

But within the runup to his go to to Bahrain, Shiite opposition teams and human rights organizations have urged Francis to lift human rights violations towards the bulk Shiites by the Sunni monarchy. They urged him to name for an finish to the demise penalty and request to go to the nation’s Jau jail, the place lots of of Shiite activists have been jailed.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly denounced using torture in prisons, in addition to pressured confessions and “sham trials” towards dissidents.

“We are writing to appeal to you as the families of twelve death row inmates who are facing imminent execution in Bahrain,” learn a letter from the households to Francis launched this week by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. “Our family members remain behind bars and at risk of execution despite the clear injustice of their convictions.”

Francis has modified church educating to declare the demise penalty inadmissible in all instances. He has frequently visited prisoners throughout his international journeys, although no such jail go to is deliberate in Bahrain.

The Vatican spokesman declined to say whether or not Francis would increase Bahrain’s human rights report publicly or privately throughout his go to.