This four-day visit, the second to the Arabian Peninsula since his historic trip to the United Arab Emirates in 2019, comes against the backdrop of calls from NGOs denouncing discrimination against the Shiite community of this island country of 1 .4 million inhabitants ruled by a Sunni dynasty.
The sovereign pontiff is due to deliver the closing speech at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) at a forum for interfaith dialogue between East and West in Awali (center), in the presence of many political and religious leaders from the Middle East.
In the middle of the afternoon, he will meet the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, a respected institution of Sunni Islam, with which he had signed a founding document on human brotherhood in Abu Dhabi.
The Argentinian Jesuit will then speak at 4:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. GMT) before the “Council of Muslim Elders” at the Mosque of the Royal Palace, then during an ecumenical prayer at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, the largest Catholic church. of the peninsula, inaugurated at the end of 2021.
– “Right to life” –
With this first visit by a pope to its soil, Bahrain, which formalized its diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2000, intends to play the tolerance card to soften its image, assuring that the country “does not tolerate discrimination “.
But nine NGOs called on the pope to “publicly demand that Bahrain put an end to all executions, abolish the death penalty and seriously investigate allegations of torture and violations of the right to a fair trial”.
Arrived Thursday, the leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics was welcomed with military honors between fanfare, dances, songs and flower petals under the golds of the royal palace of Al-Sakhir, where he gave a speech without language of wood in front of the authorities and the diplomatic corps.
He notably called for “that fundamental human rights are not violated, but promoted”, judging it necessary to “guarantee respect and attention to those who feel the most marginalized from society, such as emigrants and prisoners”.
The pope also insisted on the “need to always guarantee the right to life”, “even towards those who are punished”, an allusion to the death penalty, still in force in the kingdom.
“Since the Arab Spring protests in 2011, there has been a drastic increase in the use of the death penalty against pro-democracy protesters who dared to defend fundamental rights and freedoms in Bahrain,” Sayed Ahmed said on Thursday. Alwadaei, director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).
– Knee pain –
Three weeks before the opening of the Football World Cup in neighboring Qatar, pointed out in particular for the fate of its foreign workers, the pope also called for “guarantees everywhere of safe and humane working conditions”. “, denouncing the “dehumanizing work”.
Saturday should be more devoted to meeting with the country’s Catholic community, estimated at some 80,000 faithful according to the Vatican, including a mass in the national stadium.
During the flight to Bahrain, the pope, who will be 86 next month, told journalists accompanying him that he had “very bad knees”, a chronic pain that forced him to move around in a wheelchair.
This is Francis’ 39th international trip since his election in 2013. He has visited a dozen Muslim-majority countries, including Jordan, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Bangladesh, Morocco and in Iraq.
