Date: Feb 2, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Pope on historic Arabian Peninsula visit DUBAI: Pope Francis is set for a historic trip to the UAE, the first ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, as he seeks to boost the Vatican’s outreach to Islam. The Argentine pontiff’s trip to the United Arab Emirates “couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Bishop Paul Hinder of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia that encompasses the UAE, Oman and Yemen. “With advanced communication tools at everyone’s disposal, we are better informed, and this can be put into a broader perspective when we couple it with dialogue,” Hinder told AFP. Pope Francis, who has made strengthening ties between the two largest religions a cornerstone of his papacy, heads to Abu Dhabi Sunday. During his three-day visit, the pope will take part in an interfaith conference and meet Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s prestigious seat of learning. The papal visit is widely seen as a stepping stone to broader interreligious dialogue in the region. The UAE, which has made no secret of its focus on soft power, prides itself on its religious tolerance and cultural diversity. But it has been criticized by rights groups for its involvement in a bloody military intervention in Yemen and for upholding a 10-year prison term against activist Ahmed Mansoor on Dec. 31, two weeks after the UAE declared 2019 the “Year of Tolerance.” The war in Yemen, which the pope has condemned several times, could cast a shadow on the trip. “I don’t think the pope will be silent about what is happening in the region,” Hinder said in an interview when asked if the pope would speak about the war. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who invited the pope to the UAE, Thursday described the pontiff as “the man of peace and love.” “We are hopeful that generations to come will prosper in peace and security,” he said in a tweet anticipating the meeting between the pontiff and Sheikh Ahmed. In a video message to the Emirati people Thursday, Pope Francis said: “I am happy ... to write on your dear land a new page in the relations between religions, confirming that we are brothers although different.” It started in Arabic with the words As-Salamu Alaikum (Peace be with you). “Faith in God unites and does not divide, it draws us closer despite differences, it distances us from hostilities and aversion.” On the last day of his trip, Pope Francis will lead a mass in Abu Dhabi to be attended by more than 130,000 people - the largest gathering ever in the UAE, according to local media. Francis praised the UAE as “a land that is trying to be a model of coexistence, of human brotherhood and a meeting place among diverse civilizations and cultures.” Catholics attending the open-air mass queued for hours at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai Wednesday to collect their tickets. Parishes across the country were allocated a certain number of passes with St. Mary’s Catholic Church receiving 41,000 tickets, according to priest Lennie Connully. He said more than 50,000 members of the congregation had asked to attend the historic mass at Zayed Sports City stadium. Over 2,000 buses will be transporting worshippers from across the country to Abu Dhabi. For Filipina Mylene Lao Estipona, 43, a cancer survivor, the time-consuming journey to see Pope Francis is a small price to pay for a lifelong dream. She said her faith gave her a “second chance” at life and the strength to beat cancer. “I thank God that I have a ticket. I really prayed, and it’s an answered prayer,” said the dental hygienist, who has been living in the UAE for 13 years. The UAE has the largest number of Catholic churches in the region with eight. Vatican officials said that they hoped one of the immediate effects of the visit would be permission to build more church compounds in the Emirates to minister to the Catholic community. “We are really stretched. We need more churches. We need more priests,” one official said. The UAE authorities control all religious activities and suppress any group that uses religion for political ends, notably Islamists. Pope Francis, who made history when he was named the first Latin American pontiff in 2013, is known as the “people’s pope.”