{"id":31256,"date":"2019-01-31T09:23:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T09:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=31256"},"modified":"2019-01-31T09:23:29","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T09:23:29","slug":"pope-says-happy-to-write-new-page-in-history-with-uae-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=31256","title":{"rendered":"Pope says \u2018happy to write new page in history\u2019 with UAE visit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nVATICAN CITY: Pope Francis said he was looking to write a new page in the history of relations between religions with his visit to the United Arab Emirates from Sunday.
\u201cI am happy … to write on your dear land a new page in the relations between religions, confirming that we are brothers although different,\u201d he said in a video message to the Emirati people released Thursday.
In the message, in Italian but also dubbed into Arabic, the pope thanked Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan for his invitation to participate in an interfaith meeting on \u201chuman fraternity\u201d from February 3 to 5.
He said the visit would give him the opportunity to again see \u201cfriend and dear brother\u201d Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the head of Egypt\u2019s top Sunni Muslim authority, whom he met on a visit in 2017.
Francis has made boosting ties between Christianity and Islam a cornerstone of his papacy.
The pope said he believes the interfaith meeting reflects \u201cthe courage and willingness to affirm that faith in God unites rather than divides, brings together despite differences, and turns away from hostility and aversion.\u201d
Francis also said the United Arab Emirates was \u201ca land that seeks to be a model of coexistence, human fraternity and the meeting of diverse civilizations and cultures, where many find a safe place to work and live freely in the respect for diversity.\u201d
\u201cI look forward to meeting a people who live in the present with their eyes on the future,\u201d he added.
The UAE prides itself on its religious tolerance and cultural diversity, and most Gulf Arab states have long allowed Christians to worship in churches.
Nearly 80 percent of the population of the UAE is Muslim, while Christians constitute around nine percent, according to the Catholic News Agency.
Many of the Catholics are workers from Africa, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, though some are locals.<\/p>\n