Vatican sets schedule of Pope’s visit to Bahrain

TDT | Manama        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Pope Francis will be in Bahrain for three days from November 3 to 6, confirmed the Holy See Press office of the Vatican yesterday.

While in Bahrain, Pope will attend the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence”. This is according to the schedule, logo and motto of People Francis’ journey published yesterday.

The motto of the journey is “Peace on Earth to people of goodwill.”

Journey begins

According to the programme, Pope Francis will board a flight from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport at 9:30 am on Thursday, the 3rd of November, and land at the Sakhir Air Base at around 4:45 PM (GMT+3).

Shortly after, Pope will visit His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the Sakhir Royal Palace and meet with Bahrain’s authorities, civil society, and diplomatic corps. Next day, Friday morning, the Pope will attend the closing of the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence” at Al Fida Square of Sakhir Royal Palace.

Later in the afternoon, he will meet privately with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in the Papal Residence within Sakhir Royal Palace. Afterwards, he will hold an Ecumenical Meeting and prayer for peace in our lady of Arabia Cathedral.

On Saturday, the Holy Father will conduct a Holy Mass at the Bahrain National Stadium in the morning for the country’s Catholic population, which numbers around 161,000 faithful. In the afternoon, Pope will meet young people at the Sacred Heart School.

The Pope will wrap up his Apostolic Visit on Sunday morning with a prayer meeting with Bishops, priests, consecrated persons, seminarians, and pastoral workers at the Sacred Heart Church in Manama. The papal plane will then take off from Sakhir Air Base to Rome for arrival at Fiumicino Airport around 5 PM.