{"id":31951,"date":"2019-02-05T18:22:48","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T18:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=31951"},"modified":"2019-02-05T18:22:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T18:22:48","slug":"rabbi-predicts-historic-times-ahead-for-jews-muslims-in-gulf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=31951","title":{"rendered":"Rabbi predicts \u2018historic times\u2019 ahead for Jews, Muslims in Gulf"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nABU DHABI: The curtain fell on the historic visit of Pope Francis to the Arabian Peninsula at a Catholic mass in front of an estimated 180,000 worshippers in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

\nHe reinforced the Christian themes of religious humility, understanding and peace. Sharing an altar with Christian and Muslim leaders, Francis delivered a 25-minute homily rich in Christian tradition.<\/p>\n

\nDelivered in Italian followed by an Arabic translation from an assistant beside him on the outdoor altar, the pope assured the congregation that they were each blessed.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDear brothers and sisters, in the joy of meeting you, this is the word that I have come today to say to you: Blessed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nMuch of the mass \u2014 which lasted one hour and 45 minutes \u2014 was in English, with key parts of the liturgy in traditional church Latin.<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\n#PopeFrancis<\/a> bids farewell to the United Arab Emirates, as he board the papal plane for the return flight to Rome. #PopeFrancisInUAE<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MTI5zsKzha<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vatican News (@VaticanNews) February 5, 2019<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou are a choir composed of numerous nations, languages and rites, a diversity that the holy spirit loves and wants to harmonize ever more, in order to make a symphony,\u201d Francis said.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThis joyful polyphony of faith is a witness that you give everyone, and that builds up the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe based his sermon on the Beatitudes, a series of eight blessings from the Bible that he used to underline the anti-materialistic message that he had highlighted in his speech on the first day of his visit.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe see in them (the Beatitudes) an overturning of that popular thinking, according to which it is the rich and the powerful that are blessed,\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFor Jesus, on the other hand, blessed are the poor, the meek, those who remain just even at the cost of appearing in a bad light, those who are persecuted \u2026 He was poor in respect of things, but wealthy in love. He healed so many lives, but did not spare his own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nFrancis had a message for the expatriate Catholics among the congregation: \u201cIt is certainly not easy for you to live far from home, missing the affection of your loved ones, and perhaps also uncertainty about the future. But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon His people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe mass was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, the UAE\u2019s minster of tolerance, and by the grand imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, Ahmed Al-Tayeb. Also present was Bishop Paul Hinder, head of the Catholic Church in southern Arabia.<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\nMohamed bin Zayed bids farewell to His Holiness Pope Francis after a three-day official visit, praising his role in establishing the foundations of peace, fraternity and humanitarian dialogue. pic.twitter.com\/RwVPTdN7r2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u0645\u062d\u0645\u062f \u0628\u0646 \u0632\u0627\u064a\u062f (@MohamedBinZayed) February 5, 2019<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nTo resounding cheers, Hinder thanked Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who originally extended the invitation to the pope.<\/p>\n

\nThe bishop said: \u201cWe Christians try to implement the thought that St. Francis gave to his time, to his brothers, and to live spiritually among the Muslims, and not to engage in argument, but simply in the knowledge that we are Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABU DHABI: The curtain fell on the historic visit of Pope Francis to the Arabian Peninsula at a Catholic mass in front of an estimated 180,000 worshippers in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. He reinforced the Christian themes of religious humility, understanding and peace. Sharing an altar with Christian and Muslim leaders, Francis delivered a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":31952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}