Bahrainis hope for Pope Benedict's visit to country

Manama: Christians in Bahrain on Thursday celebrated Christmas with growing hope that Pope Benedict XVI will soon become the first pontiff to set foot in the region.

King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa's invitation to the Pope in July to visit Manama was reiterated last week by Nasser Al Beloushi, Bahrain's first ambassador to the Holy See, as he presented his credentials.

Best wishes

"I have offered my best wishes to my Christian friends at the special reception they regularly host on Christmas Day. It was an impressive celebration attended by large communities, and as Muslims, we are happy for them.

"We have always had great rapport with the church people in Bahrain," media specialist Shaikh Jaber Bin Mohammad Al Khalifa told Gulf News.

"I particularly appreciated the papal invitation and do hope that it will become a reality soon," he said.

During his visit to Pope Benedict XVI at his summer residence outside Rome, King Hamad stressed Bahrain's commitment to intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and invited the Pope to visit the country.

Describing the discussions in Castelgandolfo as "cordial", the Vatican thanked the king for the welcome given to numerous Christian immigrants.

Mushrooming

Bahrain is home to thousands of Christians, hailing mainly from Lebanon, the Philippines and southern India who are all involved in the large projects mushrooming in the region.

The increase of the number of Christians living in the kingdom has prompted the Pope to ask for new churches to be built in order to accommodate them, a call that Bahrain, even though it has a very small local Bahraini Christian community, answered by pledging to donate a new plot of land to a Catholic church, according to a Christian leader.

International praise

Bahrain, often subject to praise by international reports for the freedom of religion it accords to various faiths, leads the Gulf with its number of churches.

The Christian community, made up of around 80 Bahraini families, is represented in the appointed upper house of the bicameral parliament by Alice Samaan, the second deputy speaker.