Pope Francis answers questions from journalists during the flight back to Rome after his apostolic journey to Bahrain on November 6, 2022. MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI / AFP
For his first trip to the small kingdom of Bahrain, nestled in the Arabian Peninsula, the Pope has multiplied the meetings. Notably with King Hamad Ben Issa Al Khalifa, whom he met twice for private talks, the content of which was not disclosed. But also with religious authorities. Muslims, first of all, within the framework of his interreligious dialogue, in particular with Imam Al-Tayeb of the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, thanks to which Francis hopes to show the possibility of a life in “peace” between peoples. The official reason for the trip was the speech given on Friday, November 4th at the end of the forum for dialogue between “East and West for a human coexistence”, in which heads of many religions took part.
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So Christians. On his way to the Gulf, the sovereign Pope also came to send a message to around 1.6 million people who identify with this faith in the various countries of the Arabian Peninsula. On Saturday, Pope Francis led a mass at Manama Stadium attended by 30,000 people, mostly migrant workers including some from the neighboring kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
During the Pope’s visit to the School of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic institution in Manama, some family members of political prisoners demonstrated, holding protest signs. But they were scattered by the police without the high priest having a chance to see them. Ruled by a Sunni monarch, the archipelago is regularly accused by NGOs of human rights abuses, particularly against opponents from the Shia community.
“The Temptation to Compromise”
During the traditional press conference on the plane to Rome on Sunday, the Pope avoided answering hot-button questions in detail. These include the possibility of reviewing the rules of secrecy in church sanctions against priests who have committed sexual abuse. In France, the issue has been particularly sensitive following revelations about the measures taken against Michel Santier, the former bishop of Creteil. The latter was convicted of sexually abusing young men in the 1990s, with nothing coming to light.
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This silence shook the Catholic community. When asked about the legitimacy of procedural secrecy, the Pope dodged, recalling that “the problem of abuse has always existed, everywhere, not just in the Church.” While considering that the church is “making progress” on these issues, he acknowledges that things are not easy in an institution where transparency is far from the norm. “We’re working as best we can,” he defended, but there are people within the church who don’t see things that way, it’s a process we’re carrying out with courage and we don’t have one. Be brave everyone. And to insist on “the temptation to compromise”.
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