Three days in Bahrain
On the third day of this unprecedented visit, this Saturday morning, some 30,000 people of 111 nationalities, according to the authorities, gathered at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa, the largest stadium in the country, south of the capital, Manama, to attend Pope Francis’ mass.
The Argentine pontiff greeted the crowd aboard the Popemobile, kissing and blessing babies on his way. He then gave a homily, in Spanish.
Then, in the afternoon, still this Saturday, the pope was received with dances and flowers at the Sacred Heart School in Manama, where he called on the young people he met to “dialogue”.
Shortly before, a dozen people were briefly arrested. They were demonstrating at the entrance to the school where the meeting was to be held to demand the release of their imprisoned relatives, said Sayed Alwadaei, director of the London-based NGO Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).
Since the 2011 revolt, Bahrain has been regularly accused by NGOs and international institutions of repressing political dissidents, particularly those from the Shiite community, in a country ruled by a Sunni dynasty.
The government, for its part, assures us that it does not tolerate ” discrimination and have human rights protection mechanisms in place.
The kingdom formalized diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2000. Bahrain is home to around 80,000 Catholics, according to the Vatican. These people are mainly Asian workers.
With AFP