On the third day of Pope Francis’ visit to the Kingdom, some 30,000 people gathered on Saturday at the Bahrain National Stadium. They had been there since early in the morning and had been participating in the service that was presided over by the pope.
Participants in the Mass were distributed on the seats of the Bahrain National Stadium, the largest sports facility in the Kingdom, which is located in the Riffa region.
Following a first station on Friday evening in the Cathedral of the Arab Lady of the Arabs, the largest Catholic Church in the Gulf, where he entered to cheers and tears, Pope Francis, a Christian Catholic, meets for mass on Saturday.
With 1.4 million residents, Bahrain established diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 2000 after learning that there were roughly 8,000 Catholics living there, most of whom were labourers.
The Vatican’s Pope and Sheikh Al-Azhar
While in Bahrain for the “East and West and West Forum for Human Coexistence,” Pope Francis and Sheikh Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, met with the Council of Muslim Elders on Friday.
In his remarks at the gathering, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar said:
Pope Francis, on his part, stated:
On Friday, the Bahraini capital, Manama, concluded the work of the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue, titled “East and West for Human Coexistence”.
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain, stated on Friday that Pope Francis and Sheikh Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayeb worked to further the Bahrain Forum, emphasising the importance of religious leaders in solving societal issues.
The Vatican’s Pope advocates promoting the idea of human fraternity.
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