The Holy Father will be in the country from November 3 to 6 and will participate in the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue.
ACN.- As announced by the Holy See Press Office, Pope Francis will travel to Bahrain from November 3-6 for the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence dedicated to coexistence between East and West. The program and other details of the trip will be published in the coming days.
With this trip, Francis will be the first Pontiff to visit the Persian Gulf country.
The visit, which will focus on the cities of Manama and Awali, is Pope Francis’ response to the official invitation to visit the Persian Gulf country extended to him by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa through his advisor for diplomatic affairs, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed.
The Royal Court welcomed in a statement the future visit, «appreciating his efforts to promote a culture of dialogue and coexistence, and supporting human fraternity».
He will also take the opportunity to visit the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia located in Awali, which was consecrated on December 10, 2021 during the visit of Cardinal Luis Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, in official representation of Pope Francis.
On the same day of the inauguration of the cathedral, Tagle had delivered a letter from Pope Francis to the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, to which the sovereign had replied expressing «his great desire to see the Pontiff one day in Bahrain», reiterating «his intention to favor an ever greater openness of the country to people who do not follow the Muslim religion».
Today, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia is the largest cathedral in the Gulf, with a capacity for 2,300 people and located 20 kilometers from the capital. It has been financed, in part, thanks to the contribution of benefactors of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
In 2014, Pope Francis received King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa in Vatican City. Among the topics discussed were peace and stability in the Middle East and the promotion of dialogue and peaceful coexistence among all components of society. The talks also highlighted the positive contribution of the Christian minority in the Shiite-majority country and the King’s interest in the needs of the local Catholic community.
Bahrain is a small Asian island country located on the west coast of the Persian Gulf. The archipelago consists of 33 islands, the largest of which is Bahrain, which is 55 km long and 18 km wide.
Islam is the official state religion. Of the 1.7 million inhabitants of the Persian Gulf country, it is estimated that 80% of the population professes Islam. Around 80,000 people – less than 5% – are Catholics. Therefore, it is the second consecutive trip in which Francis visits a country with an Islamic majority after the recent trip to Kazakhstan and continues his «tradition» of visiting countries where the Catholic faith is a minority.