Pope urges Muslim dialogue on first visit to Bahrain

Human rights groups and relatives of Shiite militants on death row urged Francis to use the visit, which began on Thursday, to call for an end to the death penalty and political repression in Bahrain. But it was unclear whether Francis would publicly embarrass his hosts during the four-day visit, the first pope to visit the Persian Gulf island nation.

Francis has long touted dialogue as a tool for peace and sees the need to demonstrate interfaith harmony, especially now given the war in Russia Ukraine and regional conflicts, such as Yemen. On the eve of the trip, Francis asked for prayers so that the trip would advance “the cause of brotherhood and peace so desperately needed in our time”.

Workers carry chairs at the stadium where Pope Francis will attend Mass, Wednesday, November 2, 2022, in Manama, Bahrain. (Associated Press)

It was Francis’ second visit to the Gulf Arab states after his landmark 2019 visit to Abu Dhabi, where he signed a promotion with key Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb Documents of the Catholic-Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Tayeb is the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Cairo’s Sunni study. Francis then visited Iraq in 2021, where he was received by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of the world’s preeminent Shiite clerics.

Francis will meet again this week in Bahrain with al-Tayeb and other prominent figures in the interfaith field who are expected to attend a conference similar to the one Francis and el-Tayeb hosted by Kazakhstan last month. According to the Bahrain plan, members of the regional Muslim Presbyterian Church, spiritual leaders of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and American rabbis are expected to attend.

The trip will also allow Francis to serve Bahrain’s Catholic community, which number about 80,000 in a country of about 1.5 million. Most are workers from the Philippines and India, although travel organizers expect pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and other neighboring countries to attend Francis’ large mass at the National Stadium on Saturday.

An Emirati journalist takes a photo with a mobile phone inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, where Pope Francis will attend Mass, in Manama, Bahrain, Wednesday, November 2, 2022. (Associated Press)

Bahrain is home to the first Catholic church in the Gulf, the Sacred Heart Parish, which opened in 1939, the largest of which is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia. The 2,300-capacity church opened last year in the desert town of Awali on land given to the church by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa superior. In fact, the king presented Francis with a model of the church when he visited the Vatican in 2014 and issued an invitation to visit for the first time.

Francis will visit two churches during his visit and may thank the king for his long-standing tolerance for Christians living in the country, especially compared with neighboring Saudi Arabia, where Christians cannot openly profess their faith.

“Religious freedom in Bahrain is perhaps the best in the Arab world,” said Bishop Paul Hind, Apostolic Administrator of Bahrain and other Gulf Arab states. “Even if all is not ideal, there may be people who convert (convert to Christianity), at least not with official punishment like in other countries.”

A plane takes off from Fiumicino International Airport on November 3, 2022, before Pope Francis departs for Bahrain, near Rome, Italy. (Reuters)

But on the eve of the visit to Bahrain, Shiite opposition groups and human rights groups urged Francis to bring up human rights abuses by the Sunni monarchy against the majority Shiites. They urged him to call for an end to the death penalty and to visit the country’s Jau prison, where hundreds of Shiite militants are being held.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned the use of torture in prisons, as well as forced confessions and “sham trials” of dissidents.

“We are writing to appeal to you as the families of 12 death row inmates who are facing execution in Bahrain,” read a letter released this week by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. “Despite their clearly unjust convictions, our families are Still in custody and at risk of execution.”

Francis changed the teachings of the church, declaring that the death penalty was unacceptable under all circumstances. He regularly visits prisoners during his foreign trips, but Bahrain has no plans for such prison visits.

A Vatican spokesman declined to say whether Francis would publicly or privately improve Bahrain’s human rights record during his visit.