Pope Leo XIV on Monday, September 29,  met with the prime minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Prince Salman Ibn Hamad Al Khalifa, in the Vatican.

According to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office following the meeting with the Pope, the prime minister met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, accompanied by the Vatican's Under-Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations Monsignor Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski.

"During the cordial discussions which took place in the Secretariat of State," the statement read, "appreciation was expressed for the good bilateral relations" between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Bahrain, with "agreement on their desire to further strengthen them."

"Attention," it noted, "was given to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s policy of promoting interreligious dialogue and the peaceful coexistence of different religions within the Kingdom."

Finally, the statement concluded, "several topics of common interest were addressed, such as the urgent need to end the war in the Middle East and the commitment to peace among nations."

The late Pope Francis made an Apostolic Journey to Bahrain in November 2022 for a four-day visited focused on interreligious dialogue.