National Catholic Register, Edward Pentin: Already the first pope ever to set foot on the Arab peninsula, an increasingly immobile Pope Francis will return to the Arabian Gulf on Thursday when he becomes the first supreme pontiff to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The four-day apostolic trip will be Francis’ tenth to a Muslim-majority nation and his 39th apostolic journey outside Italy.
Bahrain has a small Catholic presence of around 80,000 people, most of whom are migrant workers from Asia, out of a population of around 1.3 million.
On Wednesday, the Pope told pilgrims at his All Saints Day Angelus that it will be “a journey under the banner of dialogue,” alluding to the interreligious conference he will be attending on Friday. He added that during his trip he will “have the opportunity to engage with religious representatives, particularly Islamic.” Report is here.
