Pope faces critics over Yemen on first papal visit to UAE

Francis’s trip to United Arab Emirates ‘to promote peace’ comes amid bloody conflict to south

Harriet Sherwood in Abu Dhabi
Sat 2 Feb 2019 14.00 GMT

Pope Francis will be the first pontiff to visit the Arabian peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, when he celebrates mass this week in front of an expected 120,000 people in Abu Dhabi.

The pope has been invited to visit the United Arab Emirates by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to take part in an international interfaith meeting as part of the Gulf state’s “year of tolerance”.

But Francis has faced criticism over the two-day visit because of the UAE’s part in the war in Yemen as a member of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi armed movement. The pope, who arrives in Abu Dhabi on Sunday evening, will hold talks with the crown prince, address the interfaith meeting, celebrate mass at a sports stadium, and lay foundation stones with the Grand Imam, Ahmed Al Tayyib, for a new church and mosque.

The two faith leaders will sign a global agreement of “peace, fraternity and mutual respect on behalf of their billions of followers around the world”.

-snip-