THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POPE’S VISIT TO BAHRAIN

 

Peace on Earth to people of Goodwill

Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM Cap 

(Doha Qatar)

 

The Pope's visit to the Gulf comes following an invitation from Bahrain’s King Hamad and by the head of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, Bishop Paul Hinder. The Pope’s visit affects not only the country of visitation but also other gulf countries such as Doha Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In May 2011, the Holy See re-organized the Vicariate of Kuwait, giving it the new name of “Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia” (AVONA) which also includes besides Kuwait the territories of Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Though the visit is happening now in November of 2022 but the Pope was invited to Bahrain as early as 2014 but then he had to go to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2019 to sign the Declaration for Human Fraternity. The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration or Abu Dhabi agreement, is a joint statement signed by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi. This Document, in accordance with previous International Documents emphasizes the importance of the role of religions in the construction of world peace; to defend the values of mutual understanding, human fraternity and harmonious co-existence.

Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey to Bahrain takes place on 3-6 November, where he will attend the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue”, under the motto “Peace on earth to people of goodwill”.

The people in Gulf are excited about the Pope’s visit but the question on everyone’s mind is the significance of this visit. Bishop Hinder said the central theme of the visit is centred on peace and goodwill. He said: “We pray that this visit of His Holiness Pope Francis, besides strengthening our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, may contribute to the increase of peace and understanding all over the world…, Gathered together as a 'people of goodwill', may we all work in unison to build a brighter future for our common home and for the coming generations.”

Reading the signs of the times four intertwined stories could be the motive for the Pope’s visit: The recently inaugurated (Dec. 10, 2021) Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia (King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa donated 9,000 square metres of land for the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia), a Marian devotion (The title of Our Lady of Arabia was approved in 1948 to fulfil the prophecy of the Magnificat “From this day all generations will call me blessed.” Devotion to Our Lady of Arabia was therefore born on Dec. 8, 1948, the day on which the small chapel of Ahmadi in Kuwait was dedicated to this title.  In the chapel is a statue that had been blessed in the Vatican by Pius XII himself) fostering relations with other Christian communities (there are many other Christian denominations in the gulf), and dialogue for peace and understanding with the Muslim world. This visit could further strengthen the Abu Dhabi declaration or Abu Dhabi agreement. The king of Bahrain in his invitation to the Pope had praised the Pope’s role “in promoting dialogue and understanding between religions and civilizations, as well as in promoting the values of human brotherhood, tolerance, and co-existence among all.” Furthermore, the king had confirmed his desire to “strengthen existing relations of friendship and co-operation” with the Holy See.

So, Pope Francis is visiting the Kingdom of Bahrain not only to encourage the country’s small Catholic flock (as per www.catholicsandcultures.org/bahrain it is 164,000) but also to attend the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Co-existence”.

Keeping in mind the purpose of this visit the Vatican has beautifully designed the logo for the visit. Vatican’s as well as AVONA websites gives the detail explanation of the logo. The motto for the Apostolic Journey to Bahrain is “Peace on earth to people of goodwill”, which is taken from the Gospel of Luke, 2:14. The visit’s logo consists of the flags of the Holy See and the Kingdom of Bahrain, which are represented in stylized form as two hands open towards God. According to the Holy See Press Office, the logo symbolizes “the commitment of peoples and nations to encounter each other free from prejudice and in a spirit of fraternal openness”. An olive branch extending upwards from the hands symbolizes peace, “the fruit of fraternal encounter”. The words “Pope Francis” appears below the symbol in the colour blue, to show that the Visit is entrusted to “Our Lady of Arabia”, the patroness of the Cathedral, which was a gift of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the local Catholic Church.

Such an important visit demands lot of preparation and arrangements.  At the same time, it calls for a lot of prayers from the catholic community.  The churches of AVONA are already praying for the success of this papal visit.

We wish Pope Francis a fruitful visit to Bahrain and the people of AVONA grace filled blessings from Our Lady of Arabia.