“We have been here since one o’clock in the morning, we have not slept. We are so excited at the idea of seeing the pope!” Philomina Abranches, a 46-year-old Indian volunteer who participated in the the organization of the event.
“It’s a lifelong dream for everyone to come and see him. We all call him Dad. Above all, he represents peace in the world, which is what we need right now,” he adds. she.
Like her, many faithful from Asian countries or other countries of the Arab world, families as well as religious arrived at dawn in the largest sports arena in the country, located in Riffa, south of the capital Manama. .
Visiting for four days – the first of a pope in this island state of 1.4 million inhabitants – the Argentine sovereign pontiff greeted and blessed the crowd as he arrived aboard his “Popemobile”, embracing children and babies on its passage under the acclamations of the faithful.
“Here he is!” Some people shouted, many immortalizing the scene with their smartphones while children perched on their parents’ shoulders tried to catch a glimpse of the man in white.
– “Chance” –
“Since John Paul II, there has been an awareness that the apostolic journeys of the popes really make it possible to go to the heart of the countries, of the Christian populations”, explains Brother Emmanuel Pisani, director of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies in Cairo, seated in the front row.
“Despite his real handicaps, Pope Francis is pursuing this,” he adds in front of the platform, where an imposing gold cross dominates the altar framed by two giant screens.
Jorge Bergoglio, who turns 86 next month, suffers from chronic knee pain that forces him to use a wheelchair.
In his homily delivered in Spanish, he called for “concretely living universal brotherhood” in a land that is “a living image of the conviviality of diversities”.
As the speakers play the songs of the choir in English and Arabic, Marguerite Heida, 63, says she is “lucky” to attend the “biggest event of the year”.
“People usually go to Italy to see the Pope and don’t always get there. I saw him yesterday in church and I will see him today. I was also able to shake his hand and get his blessing “, confides this Christian from Bahrain.
The kingdom, which formalized diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2000, has some 80,000 Catholics according to the Vatican, mostly Asian workers.
This visit, the 39th abroad of the pope since his election in 2013 and the second in the Arabian Peninsula, must continue until Sunday.
