Some of the congregation had tears in their eyes as they waited to see the 85-year-old pontiff at the Bahrain National Stadium, the kingdom’s largest stadium. Pope Francis, who uses a wheelchair and cane because of knee problems, smiled and waved to the crowd from an open-faced pontoon where he sat, flanked by more than a dozen security guards and attendants. As a multinational choir of 100 people sang in many languages, he stood to kiss the children who rose to greet him in the specially adapted vehicle, which slowly drove towards a white tent with a huge golden cross as a backdrop. “This very land is a living image of coexistence in diversity and indeed an image of our world, characterized more and more by the constant migration of peoples and by a plurality of ideas, customs and traditions,” he said in a speech. The Pope, who has made outreach to Islam a pillar of his papacy, is on his second visit to the Gulf, the cradle of Islam. During his 2019 trip to the United Arab Emirates he led a mass for 170,000 people and signed a Christian-Muslim manifesto for peace. He has spent much of his four-day trip to Bahrain meeting top officials and religious figures, but for Catholics in the tiny island nation, including many migrant workers, today’s service was the highlight. “We’ve been here since one. We haven’t slept,” said volunteer Philomina Abranches, 46, a resident of Bahrain who was born in India. “We’re so excited. We all call him ‘Papa’. More than anything, he represents peace in the world. That’s what we need right now.” Margerite Heida, 63, also a resident of Bahrain, said: “Hosting Pope Francis is the best feeling. This is the biggest event of the year.” Mrs. Haida was waiting for her second look at the pontiff. “I saw him yesterday at church,” she said. “I consider myself lucky to be able to see him. I was also able to hold his hand yesterday and got his blessings.” Many worshipers came to catch a glimpse of the pope from the Gulf region, home to about two million Catholics, mostly foreign workers from South Asia and the Philippines. Bahrain, like the United Arab Emirates, is considered a relatively tolerant Arab nation. However, NGOs continue to allege discrimination, repression and harassment in Bahrain by the Sunni elite against Shiites, crackdowns on opposition figures and activists, and other abuses. A government spokesman said on Tuesday in a statement that Bahrain “does not tolerate discrimination” and “pride itself on the values of tolerance”. The statement said “no person” is being prosecuted “because of their religious or political beliefs” but pointed to “the duty to investigate” people who “incite, promote or glorify violence or hatred”. Everyone in the stadium received a plastic bag containing a white baseball cap, a paper Vatican flag, a bottle of water, a booklet with details of the mass and some cookies. Pope Francis’ 39th international visit is largely aimed at building ties with Muslim officials. Yesterday he met the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque, one of the top authorities in Sunni Islam, and members of the Muslim Council of Elders. He also attended a service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, the largest in the Arabian peninsula that has more than 2,000 seats. Among the congregation that welcomed him were hundreds of migrant workers. Tomorrow, he is due to attend a prayer meeting at the 83-year-old Sacred Heart church – the oldest in the region – before flying back to Rome.
