Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, said over the weekend that he welcomed a visit by Pope Francis to the UAE.
In a statement about the upcoming visit of the Head of the Catholic Church, His Highness stated, “We welcome the visit of Pope Francis, Head of the Catholic Church, to the UAE. We, as UAE leadership and people, are looking forward to this historic visit that will contribute to underpinning the values of tolerance, peaceful co-existence, encounter, and cultural exchange.
“Over five decades since its establishment, the UAE has been promoting the values of love, security, acceptance, freedom of religion and respect of others.”
He continued, “The UAE welcomes Pope Francis at a time when the entire world needs to be bound together by common humanitarian values, strengthen bonds of fraternity and friendship, and highlight commonalities and reject sows of sedition, hatred, grudges and ethnic and religious discrimination. We need to collectively work for noble goals and wholeheartedly endeavour to ultimately ensure peace and stability for humanity at large.”
His Highness also said he looked forward to Grand Imam of Al Azhar Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb joining hands with the Pope in a show of deepening “human bonds and values.”
Pope Francis became the first pontiff to step foot on the Arab Peninsula on Sunday when he arrived in Abu Dhabi. Upon his arrival, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan greeted the pontiff and escorted him to meet Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb – Egypt’s Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque.
The historic trip’s purpose is to strengthen interfaith dialogue. His Holiness will host an outdoor mass while in the UAE for an estimated 135,000 Catholics – something not known to have been done before. The Pope said he believes the trip provides a chance to write “a new page in the history of relations between religions.”
Close to one million Catholics live in the UAE.
