Pope to BNA: Visit to Bahrain journey to know a country with an open culture

By Fatima Al Najem Aboard the Papal Plane, Nov. 7 (BNA): His Holiness Pope Francis has termed his historic four-day visit to Bahrain at the invitation of His Majesty King Hamad as "journey of encounter" that allowed him "to know a country with an open culture." After four days of high-level meetings and talks with HM the King, HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and religious leaders from the East and West, Pope Francis shared his impressions about his historical trip at 30,000 feet in the air with Bahrain News Agency (BNA). "It was a journey of encounter. For me the novelty of getting to know a culture that is open to everyone: in your country, there is room for everyone. Total openness. And also the religious part, the openness. I was struck by the sheer number of Christians who live and work in the country," he told BNA in the in-flight conversation. During his visit, Pope Francis participated in the Bahrain Dialogue Forum held under the patronage of HM King Hamad that brought together over 200 leading scholars from the East and the West to Bahrain. He also attended the meeting of the Council of Muslim Elders headed by the Grand Imam the Sheikh of Al Azhar, Dr. Ahmed Al Tayib. "I was impressed by what said during the meeting of the Council of Muslim Elders," he said. "The ideas put forward by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar were in the direction of seeking unity, unity within Islam, respecting nuances, and differences, but also unity with Christians and with other religions. There are issues that we have to deal with, whether we are Muslims or Christians. "I was also impressed with the things that were said in the Council of Elders, about creation and the preservation of creation, and this is a common concern of everybody, Muslims, Christians, everybody. Now, the Vatican Secretary of State and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar are travelling from Bahrain to Cairo in the same plane, together as brothers. This is something that is quite moving. This is something that has done some good." Pope Francis stressed the significance of dialogue and working together to iron out differences. "From the Islamic point of view, I listened carefully to the three speeches of the Grand Imam [of Al Azhar] and I was struck by the way he was so insistent on intra-Islamic dialogue, not to erase the differences but to understand each other and to work together, not to be against each other," he told BNA. "We Christians have a bit of a bad history of differences that led us to religious wars: Catholics against Orthodox or against Lutherans. Now, thank God, after the Council, there is a closeness and we can dialogue and work together and that is important, a testimony of doing good to others. Then the specialists, the theologians will and can discuss theological things, but we have to walk together as believers, as friends, as brothers and sisters, doing well." In his comments to BNA, the Pope also stressed the importance of identity for a serious dialogue, saying that "in order to enter into interreligious dialogue or ecumenical dialogue you need your own identity." "'I am Muslim', 'I am Christian'. I have this identity and so I can speak with identity. When your identity is not defined, when it's a little 'airy' it's difficult to engage in dialogue because there's no back and forth and that's why it's important," he said. During his historic visit to the Kingdom, Pope Francis had several public activities that included a Prayer for Peace at the Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral, a Mass at the Bahrain National Stadium, a meeting with students and a prayer meeting at the Sacred Heart Church, the oldest Catholic church in the Arabian Gulf.