Manama: King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa has invited Pope Francis to visit Bahrain as the two leaders held a meeting in the Vatican to reinforce relations.
“HM the King stressed Bahrain’s keenness to reinforce friendship and cooperation with the Vatican to spread the principles of love among nations and peoples and achieve peace and stability,” Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said late on Monday.
“He urged agreements among all divine religions and cultures so that diversity becomes part of the solution, instead of the problem.
“He stressed the need to advocate religious, cultural and linguistic diversity by promoting tolerance and pointed out that the only way to achieve successful development is the one based on the identity of society itself.
“He added that the history of the Muslim-Christian dialogue shows that progress can be achieved only when representatives of the two religions set aside their differences and promote agreements, focusing particularly on common principles and morals bonding divine religions,” the official news agency said.
Bahrain regularly endeavours to reinforce the values of tolerance and coexistence among all religions and to embrace moderation, tolerance and the renunciation of fanaticism and extremism, King Hamad said.
He also reaffirmed the kingdom’s commitment to the teachings of Islam that advocate love, peace and coexistence between all people, BNA added.
The Bahraini monarch referred in his statements to the Dialogue of Civilisations and Cultures, hosted recently in Bahrain under the theme “Civilisations in the Service of Humanity”, in the presence of over 150 leading figures from all over the world.
He added that recommendations of the conference focused on promoting agreements and the renunciation of sectarian violence and hate mongering.
In his remarks, Pope Francis hailed Bahrain as a model of coexistence and tolerance between all religions, commending the care enjoyed by the followers of all religions living in the Kingdom.
In its press statement, the Vatican said that “the cordial discussions focused on various themes of common interest, with particular reference to the commitment towards peace and stability in the Middle East, as well as the promotion of dialogue and peaceful coexistence among all members of society.”
“Appreciation was expressed for His Majesty’s personal interest in the needs of the local Catholic community,” the statement said. Bahrain is an overwhelmingly Muslim country, but it is home to nationals as well as foreigners from a wide spectrum of faiths and sects.
Christian and Jewish citizens are represented in parliament.
