Pope Benedict XVI welcomed today the first ever ambassador to the Holy See sent by the United Arab Emirates, Mrs Hissa Abdulla Ahmed Al-Otaiba.
What makes this news particularly interesting is that it demonstrates the increasing influence Catholics are gaining on the Arab peninsular through the huge intake of foreign labourers, many of whom come from the Indian sub-continent.
As I wrote in 2008 soon after visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the changing patterns of belief in the Gulf are good news for the Church and for the region as a whole. The tragedy is the appalling treatment Christians and other immigrants often experience in the workplace, and the severe lack of churches for so many of the faithful.
The Pope gently addressed the first concern, saying:
"It is towards men and women, understood as unique in their God-given nature, that all politics, culture, technology and development are directed. To reduce the aims of these human endeavours merely to profit or expediency would be to risk missing the centrality of the human person in his or her integrity as the primary good to be safeguarded and valued, for man is the source, the focus and the aim of all economic and social life (cf. Caritas in Veritate, 25). Thus, the Holy See and the Catholic Church take care to highlight the dignity of man in order to maintain a clear and authentic vision of humanity on the international stage and in order to muster new energy in the service of what is best for the development of peoples and nations."
He then commended the UAE for the churches that have been built so far.
I would have liked the Holy Father to have been a little more direct on these issues, but at least some of these concerns were addressed.
Given the current situation over there, and advances in Catholic-Muslim dialogue, a papal visit to the Arab peninsular may well not be that far off.
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