Pope Francis wraps up historic three-day UAE visit

ABU DHABI: Pope Francis concluded his historic three-day visit to United Arab Emirates with a historic public mass at a stadium in the capital.

Pope Francis arrived here on the invitation of UAE as part of its 2019 "Year of Tolerance" which has its own designated ministry.

During his visit, Pope held a historic public mass for an estimated 170,000 Catholics at a stadium in the capital of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, capping the first ever papal visit to the Gulf where Islam was born.

The pope´s public comments in Abu Dhabi have centered on calls to end wars across the Middle East and protect the rights of all citizens. In a homily on Tuesday, he turned to the tens of thousands of migrant workers living in the Emirates.

"It is most certainly not easy for you to live far from home, missing the affection of your loved ones, and perhaps also feeling uncertainty about the future," the pope said. "But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon his people."

Pope Francis´ trip has been warmly welcomed by Filipino and Indian Catholics among the UAE´s huge migrant workforce. About one million Catholics live in the country, or about one in 10 of UAE residents.

The son of Italian immigrants who was raised in Argentina, Jorge Bergoglio -- or Pope Francis -- has paid particular attention to migrants and refugees during his papacy.

On Monday, the pope called for an end to wars in the turbulent Middle East, including in Yemen and Syria, at a meeting with a top sheikh and rabbi in the UAE.

All religious leaders had a "duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war", he told the interfaith meeting.

"I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya," he said.

At their meeting Monday, the pope and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the imam of Cairo´s Al-Azhar, Islam´s prestigious seat of learning, signed a document on "human fraternity for world peace", hailed by the Vatican as an "important step forward in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims".

It called for "freedom of belief", the "promotion of a culture of tolerance", the "protection of places of worship" and "full citizenship" rights for minorities. (AFP/Web Desk)