The news of the visit of pope Francis in Bahrain is a sign of hope for all, especially for us in Silsilah that have advocated for Christian-Muslim dialogue through the Silsilah Dialogue Movement since 1984.
Pope Francis has arrived in Bahrain on his first trip to the Gulf nation, calling for an end to discrimination and human rights violations.
It is vital that “fundamental human rights are not violated, but promoted”, the pope said on Thursday at the Sakhir royal palace following his arrival in the Gulf Arab state, where the Shia Muslim opposition and rights groups accused the Sunni monarchy of overseeing human rights abuses, a charge authorities deny.
Religious freedom should be “complete and not limited to freedom of worship”, he said.
The pope was welcomed by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
The visit is Pope Francis’ second to a Gulf Arab country, following his 2019 landmark trip to Abu Dhabi, where he signed a document promoting Catholic-Muslim fraternity with a leading Sunni cleric, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. Al-Tayeb is the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
The pontiff will meet again this week in Bahrain with al-Tayeb, as well as other prominent interfaith figures.The trip will also allow the pope to minister to Bahrain’s Catholic community, which numbers around 80,000 in a country of around 1.5 million. Most are workers hailing from the Philippines and India. However, trip organisers expect pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and other neighbouring countries to attend the pope’s big Mass at the national stadium on Saturday.
The situation of Muslim relation is also difficult in the Philippines among the different Muslim groups, but there is hope. There are signs of hope in many ways. One way is the World Interfaith Harmony Week that we are promoting following the indication of the United Nations in 2010 that invites all to promote the love of God, the love of neighbor and the love for the common good.
Statistics tell us that most Catholics in Bahrain are from the Philippines and India. In the past, before the COVID-19 period, we have promoted in the world the program “Filipinos Overseas for Dialogue and Peace”, and we have started to promote the Harmony Prayer in some arabic countries. This is an initiative of Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME, the founder of Silsilah, who started this tradition in Dubai.
The visit of Pope Francis helps all of us to make all possible efforts to reach out to many, and Silsilah is committed to do more. We thank the continuous inspiration of Pope Francis, and other leaders in the world who are models in the promotion of the “Culture of Dialogue”. This culture is reaffirmed in Abu Dhabi in 2019 where Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of the Al-Azhar University signed together the historical document on “Human Fraternity”.
– Silsilah Dialogue Movement