Pope Francis UAE Trip Celebrates Tolerance, Diversity
The United Arab Emirates has branded a bridge, a new
ministry, a family day at the park and even the entire year of 2019 under the
banner theme of "tolerance," as the country prepares to host Pope
Francis starting Sunday in the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula.
Francis will spend less than 48 hours in the UAE and
is due to make only two public addresses during the trip that starts on Sunday
night.
Government bodies, public relations firms and even
banks have been busy promoting the state's version of tolerance in preparation
for the pope's visit, which includes a meeting on Monday with Sheikh Ahmed
el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's foremost religious
institution, and a mass on Tuesday before 135,000 people in Abu Dhabi.
The papal Mass in Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City is
expected to draw some 120,000 people.
"I am happy for this occasion the Lord has
given me to write, on your dear land, a new page in the history of relations
between religions," Francis said in a video message on Thursday. It
started in Arabic with the words Al Salamu Alaikum (Peace be with you).
"Faith in God unites and does not divide, it
draws us closer despite differences, it distances us from hostilities and
aversion."
In the video message, Pope Francis described the UAE
as "a country which strives to be a model for coexistence and human fraternity,
a meeting point of different civilizations and cultures. A place where people
find a safe place to work, live freely and where differences are
respected."
