The Vatican released the schedule of Pope Francis’ visit to the UAE. This schedule has been most awaited since the announcement of the pontiff’s visit a week ago.

Upon arrival on Sunday, February 3 he will be greeted by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE's Armed Forces along with key UAE dignitaries at the Abu Dhabi Presidential airport.

On the second day of his three day visit, Pope Francis will visit the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi to hold a private meeting with the Muslim Council of Elders. The mosque is named after the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, whose body is also buried there.

Commenting on the itinerary, Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia (UAE, Oman and Yemen) said, “Pope Francis is convinced that every human being who stands honestly before God, no matter to whichever religion he or she belongs, and allows himself or herself to be led by God will work to create an atmosphere where human beings can live together and mutually accept each other. The Late Sheikh Zayed is known to have instilled the virtue of human coexistence in the people of the UAE and it is a happy coincidence that this historic meeting takes place at the Grand Mosque named after His Highness Sheikh Zayed, whose policies have shaped the United Arab Emirates into a country where the values of tolerance and co-existence are upheld so that all can live together in peace and harmony.”

There are nearly a million Catholics in the UAE residing across the country, and Bishop Hinder adds, “The Pope is a realist and knows that in a world of migration, human beings have to learn to live together, whether Christians among Muslims or Muslims among Christians and even both Muslims and Christians among non-believers among other big religions, we have to learn to co-exist.”

“Gestures such as these”, the Bishop added, “which are not made tactically, but specifically driven by the need to work for peace among human beings are so necessary today. Without such gestures and bold steps to create encounters, humanity risks what happened in history, where we speak with arms rather than words.”

“Such steps are elements, stones to build new relationships, a new house, a common home, where human beings have to work together to make the world a common home, where we can all live together in peace and harmony,” the Bishop said. This resonates with ‘Laudato Si’, the second encyclical of Pope Francis and the subtitle of this is “On Care for Our Common Home”. In his phrasing in this letter he is "cautious and undogmatic, and he specifically calls for discussion and dialogue."

In another development, Bishop Paul Hinder, Vicar apostolic, Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia has been interviewed on the visit.

Following is the text of the interview:

Your Excellency, what will the visit mean for the many migrant Catholics living in the region?

BISHOP HINDER: I see myself first of all as a pastor of migrants. In this area there are about a million Catholics, all foreigners. They are working above all in the fields of construction, education, and domestic work, and come from over a hundred countries. The greatest numbers are from the Philippines, India, and other parts of Asia. There is also a good number of Arabic-speaking faithful, the majority of which are from Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Beyond this, in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of Catholics from Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

This is great news and is welcome by all. The generosity of the UAE government has also been extended in making it possible to celebrate a Mass, which will be on February 5, 2019 at a public venue in Abu Dhabi. It will give an opportunity for many, who can organize and plan as it is a working week day, to attend this Mass.

How might this improve religious tolerance and especially religious freedom for the faithful in the region?

We already enjoy religious tolerance in the UAE and have been given place of worship and we are grateful for this and thank the UAE Government for this kindness.

But we pray and hope that visit be an important step in the dialogue between Muslims and Christians and contribute to mutual understanding and peace-making in the Middle East.

Is it a sign of a new openness to freedom of worship in the UAE and could it help in allowing more churches to be built in the Gulf?

Although the UAE is Islamic, other religions are tolerated and can have places of worship. For example, the Catholic Church has eight churches (parishes) in the UAE and four in the Sultanate of Oman. Currently we are building the ninth parish church in the western region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In the United Republic of Yemen, on the other hand, the pastoral life is paralyzed because of the war. Although there are no limitations on the furnishing of churches, external religious symbols are strictly forbidden. Our places of worship, in general, are located in places that are set apart. Conversions from Islam to another religion are rigorously prohibited. Worship has to take place in those places assigned by the individual governments. In the same way, any assembly of a religious nature must take place only within the structures made available to us for this purpose. It is within these limitations that we carry out our pastoral work.

So there has always been freedom to worship for all religions and the Government has always supported and understood that the growth and need for new Churches comes from the influx of migrant workers, who constitute a large number of the UAE population.

What is the International Interfaith Meeting on "Human Fraternity”? Who is to be involved. Will it be like the interfaith meetings in Assisi?

This is still being developed and further information will be made available in due course of time and we will keep media informed leading up to the visit of Pope Francis