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Even for Pope Francis, today’s Mass in Abu Dhabi is quite something. He has been to Muslim states before but celebrating on the Arabian peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, is different. For the lucky 120,000 people there, many of them Indian and Filipino migrant workers, it was an emotional, cheerful event. But what also matters is that it was witnessed around the Muslim world, including parts where extremism is a growing problem.
What Abu Dhabi and that wider Muslim audience witnessed yesterday was no less remarkable: Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, seen as the primary spiritual leader of the world’s Sunni Muslims, embracing. They’ve met before but yesterday it was to sign a joint declaration on human fraternity. It’s the kind of talk that in a Western context seems platitudinous but in an environment where the fight against extremism is real, it’s not just words.
The Grand Imam, who is from Egypt, cheered up the Christians of the region when he declared that they should not call themselves a minority; rather, they are citizens like anyone else. That’s precisely what they say themselves, and in this region, language matters.
The Pope observed that he’s following the example of St Francis of Assisi, who, 800 years ago this year, engaged in dialogue with Islam. Actually, St Francis travelled to Egypt to convert the Sultan: that didn’t work out but the Sultan, charmed by his sincerity, gave him safe passage to the Holy Land. The Pope’s point is that dialogue and friendship matter, especially between people who believe in one god.
But while Francis was (rightly) effusive about Abu Dhabi as a model of religious tolerance, he drew attention to the importance of freedom of thought and expression, where it is less exemplary. He reserved stinging criticism for weapons that “bring nothing but death”, specifically in the war in Yemen, where Abu Dhabi has played a leading role in the Saudi-led coalition. “Demilitarise the human heart,” he told his audience — the sheikh is head of the armed forces. “Human fraternity requires us to reject any approval of the word ‘war’.” Hmm.
But the Pope is right to identify Abu Dhabi’s religious tolerance, which owes much to the founder of the state, Sheikh Zayed. There’s a minister for tolerance and the agenda is set by the government, which declared 2019 the Year of Tolerance. The Friday sermons of imams are issued by a central committee to ensure they don’t go off message; in kindergarten children are taught respect for other religions; the Abu Dhabi Louvre is ordered to highlight what religions have in common.
“Tolerance doesn’t just happen, you know”, one minister told me. And the people at Mass concur: they worship freely here.
And across the border in Saudi Arabia the Pope’s visit is being closely monitored: if they follow Abu Dhabi’s lead, it really will be a miracle.