Pope Francis departed yesterday after his landmark four-day Apostolic Journey to Bahrain, after a visit to the oldest church in the Arabian Gulf.
The 85-year-old pontiff flew out of Bahrain on a Gulf Air Boeing 787 aircraft yesterday at 1pm and landed in Rome around 7pm Bahrain time.
The pontiff was seen off by His Majesty King Hamad and Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Dr Ahmad Al Tayyeb, as he boarded the papal plane in Sakhir to return to Rome.
“Thank you for these days passed together,” the Pope tweeted as he flew back home.
“With a heart filled with gratitude I bless all of you, especially those who worked to prepare for this journey. I thank His Majesty the King and the authorities of Bahrain for their exquisite hospitality.”
The final day of the Papal Visit to Bahrain, the pontiff’s 39th Apostolic Journey since his papacy began in 2013, saw him visit the Sacred Heart Church in Manama, where he urged priests, nuns and bishops to remain united as they ministered the faithful.
Sacred Heart Church had been built in 1939 on land donated by the then-ruler (Hakim) Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and has been garnering international media attention during the Pope’s four-day visit.
Sacred Heart Church is the older of the two Roman Catholic places of worship in Bahrain, the other being Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral which was opened last year.
During his address yesterday, the Pope expressed his delight to be in the midst of the Christian community made up of people from various parts of the world who come together to profess their faith.
“Worldly divisions, but also ethnic, cultural and ritual differences, cannot injure or compromise the unity of the Spirit,” he added.
There are around 60 priests working among an estimated two million Catholics spread across four countries in North Arabia, according to Bishop Paul Hinder, the Vatican’s apostolic vicar for the region.
Bahrain is home to approximately 160,000, most of them expatriate workers. Many Catholics also visit from neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Pope Francis became the first-ever Pope to visit Bahrain following an invitation from His Majesty.
The Pope’s four-day visit started last Thursday, when he flew from Fiumicino Airport to Sakhir Air Base, escorted by F-16 airplanes. The overarching message of his trip was ‘Peace on earth to people of goodwill’.
On his arrival, he was greeted by His Majesty and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
A welcome ceremony was staged in the courtyard of the Sakhir Palace, where he was taken in a Fiat 500, with licence plate SCV-1 – the official Vatican City number plate reserved for the pontiff.
During the ceremony, he presented a special medal to His Majesty, commemorating his trip.
The next day, the Pope addressed the closing of the ‘Bahrain Forum For Dialogue: East and West For Human Co-existence’ at Al Fida Square of Sakhir Palace, alongside the King and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Shaikh Dr Ahmad Al Tayyeb. In the afternoon, Pope Francis had a private meeting with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar in the Papal Residence within the grounds of Sakhir Palace, where he presented an Olive Tree sculpture to the influential Sunni Islamic leader.
This was followed by a meeting with the members of the Muslim Council of Elders at the Mosque of Sakhir Palace.
In the evening, a 1,000-strong crowd gathered for an Ecumenical address from the Pope at Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral in Awali.
On Saturday morning, the Pope delivered a public Holy Mass to more than 30,000 devotees of 111 nationalities.
In the evening, he met students at Sacred Heart School.
The Pope’s message throughout the trip has been one of fellowship, peace and coexistence, and he repeatedly called for the end to global conflict, joined by the Grand Imam.
naman@gdnmedia.bh
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