The Visit of Pope Francis in Abu dhabi in the context of Interreligious Dialogue and the Migration Crisis

Abstract

The article deals with the historical visit of Pope Francis to Abu Dhabi on February 3-5, 2019 Most of authoritative Islamic leaders of the Council of Muslim elders and hierarchs of the Catholic Church recognized the importance of this visit which contributed to consolidate peace and stability in the middle East. The Declaration on «Human brotherhood for peace and peaceful coexistence» signed by Pope Francis and the Supreme Imam of the al-Azhar Mosque laid foundation stones for fruitful interaction and cooperation between Muslims and Christians in the region. The Declaration can also encourage other States of the Islamic world to abandon Islamic fundamentalism and take the path of moderate Islam. The Catholic community of the UAE took the arrival of the Pontiff as manifestation of solidarity, desire to tell the world about what it means to confess Christ in a non-Christian society. In his sermon Pope Francis drew attention of the Christian Europe on the needs of Christian migrants in the Islamic world and recognized the anachronistic policies of prohibitions and restrictions, prompting Europeans to evaluate migration processes in a positive way.

Keywords

• pope francis
• catholic church
• islam
• vatican
• united arab emirates
• abu dhabi
• interreligious dialogue
• migration crisis
• catholic community of the uae. persecution of christians
• moderate islam