Pope set for historic trip to Arabian peninsula

Pope Francis is due to make a historic trip to the United Arab Emirates, the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula.

Francis will spend less than 48 hours in the United Arab Emirates, which is fighting alongside Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war and is due to make only two public addresses during the trip that starts on Sunday night.

Although short, the visit to the peninsula, home to two million expatriate Catholics as well as the holiest sites of Islam in Saudi Arabia, is a landmark one. The freedom to practice Christianity — or any religion other than Islam — varies across Gulf countries.

“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.”

Priests, worshippers, and diplomats in the UAE say it is among the most tolerant countries in the Gulf region toward other religions.

In the UAE and Kuwait, Christians may worship in churches or church compounds, and in other places with special licenses. In Saudi Arabia, churches are banned.

Nearly 80% of the population of the UAE is Muslim, while Christians constitute around 9%, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Francis praised the UAE as “a land that is trying to be a model of coexistence, of human brotherhood, and a meeting place among diverse civilizations and cultures.”

Francis will also visit Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest in the country, and hold a private meeting there with the Muslim Council of Elders.