QUESTION: I was astonished to see the reports of the visit of Pope Francis at Bahrain. Why the Pope wanted to visit this small country with such a large
Islamic majority? What message does he communicate to the contemporary world? – Fr. James Jacob

ANSWER: Saji Mathew Kanayankal CST

Pope Francis made his historical visit on 3-6 November 2022, to Bahrain a country which is known for its religious tolerance and cultural openness. Since Bahrain is a nation where almost seventy percentage of people are Muslims, there were many questions concerning the relevance of his visit. While some asked on the reason to visit such a small country with Islamic majority, some others celebrated its fraternal countenance. Understanding the different queries, two days prior to the visit, Pope Francis responded to it in three words; dialogue, encounter, and journey.
Dialogue is one of the fascinating methods of Pope Franics as a medicine for many of the contemporary problems. For him, “dialogue is the oxygen of peace, opening minds and hearts to encounter and breaking down the walls of violence and division.” His present visit to Bahrain was in line with his mission to promote world peace through interreligious dialogue and to create stronger bonds between Europe and the Middle East. In a meeting on last September, Pope underlined the necessity of dialogue for peace; “the path of interreligious dialogue is a shared path to peace and for peace; as such, it is necessary and irrevocable.” Dialogue seeks to discover the richness that other peoples, traditions and beliefs possess. It is a way of walking together as believers, as friends, as brothers and sisters, doing good. Through the different dialogues in Bahrain, he also intended to strengthen the Catholic minorities, empower the youth, discuss social issues, attempt to bridge the Sunni-Shiite division and to inspire the political leaders and officials to create stronger partnerships between nations. While asked about this visit, Cardial Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, stated that “in a world characterized by tensions, oppositions, and conflicts,” the Pope’s visit and the events in Bahrain are “a message of unity, cohesion, and peace.” In the present world rocked by war and many human rights violations, Pope Francis invites us to go beyond the narrow interests of politics, and to pursue unity and peace.
THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE WATER OF FRATERNITY
Among many speeches of Pope Francis at Bahrain, the most remarkable was the one he made at the gathering of the Bahraini Royalty, Government authorities, the Diplomatic Corps, religious and civil authorities, and other eminent citizens. This speech, which is already counted as one of the masterpieces of the different speeches of Pope Francis, was filled with a lot of metaphors, allegories, and similes. Using the symbol of Bahrain ‘the tree of life’’- “emblem of vitality” as a metaphor, Pope Francis addressed many challenging problems of today. While appreciating the deep-rooted tolerance of Bahrain, he emphasised the richness of its cultural diversity and invited the leaders of the country to be more open to the realities around them. In the speech, he focused on the significance of ‘rootedness.’ The tree of life survived such long years due to its deep-rootedness. “The tree itself is a majestic acacia that has survived for centuries in a desert area with very little rainfall. It seems impossible that a tree of this age has been able to live and flourish in these conditions. According to many people, the secret is to be found in its roots, which extend for dozens of meters beneath the ground, drawing from subterranean deposits of water.” After appreciating the geographical history, cultural interaction, good international reputation, and the different talents and commercial abilities of its people, Pope specially mentioned the capacity of the land in encountering different people from different parts of the world. While lauding the composite, multi-ethnic, multi-religious fabric of Bahrain, he also pointed towards the present tendencies of isolation, division, selfishness, violence, dishonesty, and myopic nationalism. The questions of unemployment, the dehumanising labour conditions, the grave risk of social instability, various threat to human dignity, different situations of human conflict, and the monstrous and senseless reality of war, etc came in between his message. He finally invited the world community to reject the logic of weapons and to change diverting enormous military expenditures to investments in combating hunger, healthcare, and education. Though many people appreciate the open mindedness of Bahrain government, the country is severely criticised for its discrimination and abuses against Shiite dissidents and its poor living conditions of migrants. Francis further called for granting religious minorities in the country complete religious freedom and ending all forms of discrimination and human rights violations.
From the symbolism of the tree of life, Pope used another metaphor “water of fraternity” to explain the deeper meaning of fraternal coexistence. One has to embark fraternal journey for sustainable peace! In his words, “may we never allow opportunities for encounter between civilizations, religions and cultures to evaporate, or the roots of our humanity to become desiccated and lifeless.” It is the duty of entire humanity to work together “in the service of togetherness and hope.” He described himself as a “sower of peace,’ to experience the days of encounter and makes the journey as a fraternal journey, looking at heaven, seeking peace on earth. He also had the hope that his every meeting and event in the Persian Gulf country would be a fruitful opportunity to promote peace. In his address, the Pope strongly advocated for the government to repeal its usage of the death penalty. It is accused that the Bahraini kingdom uses the death penalty beyond criminal cases, especially as a tool to prevent political dissidence, protests, and human rights, and to discriminate against the Shiite population. In the opening speech of his visit, Pope urged that “fundamental human rights are not violated but promoted.”
ENCOUNTER- THE WAY AHEAD OF DIALOGUE
The second word Pope used for the present visit was encounter. He says: “there cannot be dialogue, without the second word of encounter. … Without encounter dialogue remains empty, and it remains on the level of an idea rather than reality.” To explain the deeper meaning of encounter, Pope uses the symbolic gesture of the customary greetings which is quite common in the Orient. While greeting each other people place their hand on their heart. Pope Francis also did the same and he felt that it is a gesture to make room inside for the person whom he greets. “For without this welcome, dialogue remains empty, seeming, it remains on the level of an idea rather than reality.” Encounter into someone is not encroaching or invasion into the right of someone. Rather it is fraternal musing and friendly embracing of each other, not to erase the differences but to understand each other and to work together, not to be against each other.
Later, while narrating on this theme Pope remembered one of his first encounters in the country, a prayer for peace conducted in the Cathedral dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia with the Patriarch Bartholomew and with peoples of various confessions and rites. The ecumenical prayer was an opportunity to celebrate “the variety of origins and languages,” not as a problem but a resource. And he emphasised that “unity is not “sameness”, no, it is unity in diversity”.
Among the various meetings Pope refers two encounters with special notes, the one he had with Sheikh Ahmed al Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of al Azhar, whom he describes as his “dear brother” and other one was the meeting with the young people at Sacred Heart School. Later in the interview on board, he narrated the whole story of his relationship with Sheikh Ahmed al Tayyeb. Some years back, after a courtesy visit, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar was almost leaving the papal palace. Pope Francis accompanied him and at the time of departure, quite unofficially Pope invited him for the lunch and he accepted it without any hesitation. The Abu Dhabi Document was the result of the unofficial talk during that lunch. Later, the document has become reason for the famous encyclical, ‘Fratelli Tutti’.
According to Pope Francis, the students gave us a huge example; the Christians and Muslims studying together, encountering each other with mutual respect and brotherly love. In his address to the young people, Pope urged them to “break down” many social and cultural barriers, and to foster the growth of fraternity and innovation. In his speech to the youth, he applauded them for building lasting relationships and friendships irrespective of their differences. He was highly “impressed with how they embraced each other’s differences”.
JOURNEY
Lastly, from encounter Pope Francis moves towards the third word of ‘Journey.’ The journey to Bahrain should not be seen as an isolated episode. He relates it with the process began by Pope John Paul II. The present visit is a new step on the journey between Christian and Muslim believers – not to confuse things or water down the faith, but it is a “fraternal journey that, beneath the gaze of heaven, seeks to foster peace on earth.” Pope claims that in this journey of encounter he had the novel opportunity to know a ‘new culture, that is open to everyone. He realised that in Bahrain, there is room for everyone, a place of total openness without any kind of discrimination based on gender, and nationality. “Each and every person is needed in order for the journey of fraternity and peace to progress.” “Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.” Pope Francis wrote in Apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, no. 253, November 24, 2013. “The Quran is a prophetic book of peace.” He said in-flight press conference from Istanbul to Rome, November 30, 2014.
His present journey intends to create fraternal alliances in the name of Father Abraham, who was a pilgrim on earth under the merciful gaze of the one God of Heaven, the God of peace. Pope relates this event with the motto of his journey, “Peace on earth to people of goodwill.” In this pilgrim journey neither one waters down one’s identity nor one put down the other, for a dialogue to be good, it is to be rooted in one’s own identity. The dialogue becomes meaningful and effective only when the identity is strong and clear. When one is strong in his/her identity, it is easy to broaden the horizon, open and expand the personal interests and to dedicate oneself in knowing others.