Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY
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A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 4 February 2019
Pope in UAE for historic trip after call for Yemen relief
By NICOLE WINFIELD Christian and Muslim repre-
Associated Press sentatives but hundreds of
ABU DHABI, United Arab Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and
Emirates (AP) — Pope Fran- other Christian faith lead-
cis landed Sunday in Abu ers. It’s all part of the Emir-
Dhabi on the first-ever pa- ates’ “Year of Tolerance”
pal trip to the Arabian Pen- and its effort to show its
insula, where he is seeking openness to other faiths in
to turn a page in Christian- a region otherwise known
Muslim relations while also for severe restrictions on re-
ministering to a unique, ligions outside of Islam.
thriving Catholic commu- “It’s something new for the
nity. Francis earlier Sunday Muslim world, that within
called for the urgent obser- the discussion of dialogue,
vation of a limited cease- they’re talking about inter-
fire in Yemen reached in religious dialogue across
December and for food the board,” beyond basic
and medicine to get to its Christian-Muslim relations,
people, who are suffering said Marco Impagliazzo,
the world’s worst humani- president of the, a Rome-
tarian crisis. based Catholic organiza-
He made the appeal at the tion active in interfaith rela-
Vatican before boarding a tions who will be attending
plane to the United Arab Pope Francis smiles upon his arrival at the Abu Dhabi airport, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. the conference.
Emirates, which has been 3, 2019. Francis’ other main initia-
Associated Press tive in Abu Dhabi is a gi-
Saudi Arabia’s main ally in vered 1,000-year-old seat ant Mass on Tuesday in the
its war in Yemen — a way of Sunni Islam that trains city’s main sports arena
to avoid embarrassing his clerics and scholars from that is expected to draw
hosts with a public call while around the world. In a vid- some 135,000 people in
in the region. Abu Dhabi’s eo message to the Emirates what some have called
powerful crown prince, on the eve of his trip, Francis the largest show of public
Sheikh Mohammed bin Za- paid homage to his “friend Christian worship on the
yed Al Nahyan, greeted and dear brother” el-Tayeb Arabian Peninsula. There,
the pontiff with smiles along and praised his courage in Francis will see firsthand a
with Cabinet ministers and calling the meeting to as- Catholic community that is
an honor guard when he sert that “God unites and big, diverse and dynamic,
landed around 9:50 p.m. in doesn’t divide.” at a time when the wider
the Emirati capital. “I am pleased with this Mideast has seen an exo-
“The people are exhausted meeting offered by the dus of Christians fleeing
by the long conflict and Lord to write, on your dear persecution at the hands
many children are hungry, land, a new page in the of the Islamic State group
but humanitarian aid isn’t history of relations among and others. Of the over 9
accessible,” Francis said in religions and confirm that million people now living in
his noontime Sunday bless- we are brothers despite our the UAE, around 1 million
ing. “The cries of these chil- differences,” Francis said. are Emirati while the rest
dren and their parents rise In a statement Saturday, are foreigners drawn to the
up” to God. Francis trav- Al-Azhar described the up- oil-rich federation to work
eled to Abu Dhabi to par- coming meeting as “histor- in everything from white-
ticipate in a conference ic” and praised the “deep- collar finance to construc-
on interreligious dialogue ly fraternal relationship” tion. The Catholic Church
sponsored the Emirates- between its imam and the believes there are some 1
based Muslim Council of El- pope, which it said even in- million Catholics in the UAE.
ders, an initiative that seeks cludes birthday greetings. Most are Filipino and In-
to counter religious fanati- El-Tayeb also met Francis at dian, many of whom have
cism by promoting a mod- the airport. left behind families for work
erate brand of Islam. It’s the Francis and el-Tayeb are to and can face precarious
brainchild of Sheikh Ahmed address the “Human Fra- labor conditions, which hu-
el-Tayeb, the grand imam ternity Meeting” Monday man rights groups regularly
of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the re- that has drawn not only denounce.q
