Some very significant news coming out of the small Arabian gulf state of Bahrain. The country received its first-ever papal Visit this weekend. Today, Pope Francis hosted a mass for Catholics who came to Bahrain’s national stadium from all over the Persian Gulf region.
“In many parts of the world, a power is exercised that feeds on oppression and violence, and seeks to expand its own space, imposing its domination and restricting fundamental freedoms,” – so said the Pope today in Bahrain, during a Mass celebrated for peace and justice. This is the second day of the Holy Father’s pilgrimage to this Arab country. The purpose of the papal visit is to participate in the Bahrain Dialogue Forum under the theme “East and West for Human Coexistence.”
The crowd of about 30,000 people that filled Bahrain’s National Stadium was the second-largest gathering for a papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula, following one that drew more than 100,000 in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.