Pope Francis is bringing his message of dialogue with the Muslim world to the state of Bahrain, the place the Sunni-led authorities is internet hosting an interreligious convention on East-West coexistence, whereas accusing it of discrimination in opposition to the nation’s Shia majority. has been accused of.
Human rights teams and kinfolk of Shia activists on the dying row have urged Francis to make use of his go to, which begins on Thursday, to finish the dying penalty and political repression in Bahrain. But it’s unclear whether or not Francis will publicly embarrass his hosts throughout his four-day go to, which is the primary go to by any pontiff to the island nation within the Persian Gulf.
Francis has lengthy touted dialogue as a way to peace and believes there’s a want for an indication of interreligious concord, particularly given Russia’s warfare in Ukraine and regional conflicts in Yemen. . On the eve of the go to, Francis requested for prayer in order that the go to would “promote the cause of brotherhood and peace, which is urgently and urgently needed in our time.”
Workers transfer chairs in a stadium on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, at a stadium the place Pope Francis will attend a Mass in Manama, Bahrain. (AP)
This go to is Francis’ second to the Gulf Arab nation after his historic 2019 go to to Abu Dhabi, the place he signed a doc selling Catholic-Muslim fraternity with a distinguished Sunni cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb. Al-Tayyib is the grand imam of al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni educating in Cairo. Francis then traveled to Iraq in 2021, the place he was acquired by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of many world’s pre-eminent Shia clerics.
Francis will meet once more with al-Tayeb in Bahrain this week, together with different distinguished figures within the interfaith area, anticipated to attend a convention much like the one hosted by Kazakhstan final month wherein Francis and al-Tayyib additionally attended. had participated. According to the Bahrain program, members of the regional Muslim Council of Elders, non secular leaders of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew, a consultant of the Russian Orthodox Church, and rabbis of the United States are all anticipated.
The go to can even permit Francis to minister to Bahrain’s Catholic neighborhood, which is roughly 80,000 in a rustic of about 1.5 million. Most are activists from the Philippines and India, although journey organizers anticipate pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and different neighboring international locations to attend Francis’ mass on the nationwide stadium on Saturday.
An Emirati journalist takes images from his cell phone contained in the cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia the place Pope Francis will attend a Mass in Manama, Bahrain, Wednesday, November 2, 2022. (AP)
Bahrain is dwelling to the Gulf’s first Catholic church, Sacred Heart Parish, which opened in 1939, in addition to its largest, Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral. The church, with a capability of two,300, was opened final 12 months within the desert city of Awli on land gifted to the church by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. In truth, the king offered 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 the federal government is more likely to thank the king for his tolerance of Christians who’ve lengthy lived within the nation, particularly when in comparison with neighboring Saudi Arabia, the place Christians overtly specific their religion. Can’t observe.
“Religious freedom inside Bahrain is perhaps the best in the Arab world,” stated Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Administrator for Bahrain and different Gulf Arab international locations. “Even if everything is not ideal, there can be conversions (to Christianity), which are not punished, at least officially, as in other countries.”
A airplane takes off from Fiumicino International Airport earlier than the departure of Pope Francis to go to Bahrain, close to Rome, Italy, on November 3, 2022. (Reuters)
But in the midst of his go to to Bahrain, Shia opposition teams and human rights organizations have urged Francis to take up the human rights violations dedicated by the Sunni monarchy in opposition to the bulk Shias. He urged them to place an finish to the dying penalty and go to the nation’s Jau Jail, the place a whole lot of Shia activists have been jailed.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned the usage of torture in prisons, in addition to compelled confessions and “false trials” in opposition to dissidents.
“We are writing to appeal to you as the families of twelve prisoners sentenced to death in Bahrain,” stated a letter to the households issued this week by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. “Members of our family are behind bars and at risk of hanging, despite the apparent injustice of their sentence.”
Francis has modified church educating to declare the dying penalty unacceptable in all circumstances. He has often met with prisoners throughout his international visits, though no such jail visits are deliberate in Bahrain.
A Vatican spokesman declined to say whether or not Francis would publicly or privately improve Bahrain’s human rights file throughout his go to.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
