Pope Francis begins visit to Bahrain

Source: Vatican News

Pope Francis set off this morning on his Apostolic Journey to the Kingdom of Bahrain, marking his 39th Apostolic Journey abroad and the 58th country he has visited as Pope.

The Holy Father flew out of Rome on an ITA Airways flight at approximately 9.45am Rome time. He is expected to land in Awali about about 4.45 local time (2.45pm Rome time).

Pope Francis accepted the invitation to visit the country extended by the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and by the local Church. During his visit, he will participate in the Bahrain Forum for Dialogue and bring his closeness to the country's small Catholic flock.

Before leaving for the airport today, Pope Francis met with three Ukrainian refugee families hosted by Italian families at Casa Santa Marta.

One of them is the wife of an Orthodox priest, along with her two children aged 18 and 14, from the Kropyvnytskyi region, 150 km from Mykolaiv. Her husband and adult son have remained behind in Ukraine. The second family is a 30-year-old mother with two daughters aged 4 and 7, who fled the partially occupied city and region of Zaporizhzhia; while the third family is a 53-year-old woman with a severely disabled 13-year-old son and a 73-year-old mother from Kyiv.

The refugee families were accompanied by the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.

Due to knee pain, the Pope is not making the usual rounds among the journalists on the papal flight, but instead asked them to come up for a greeting.

Pope Francis said the Apostolic Visit to Bahrain is "an interesting trip" from which "good news" can emerge.

During his All Saints Day Angelus address on 1 November, the Pope expressed his hope that "every meeting and event might be a fruitful opportunity to promote, in the name of God, the cause of fraternity and peace."

In an interview with Vatican Media, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Pope's Apostolic Journey is a sign of hope and dialogue in a tragic moment in history.

Cardinal Parolin stressed that "in a world characterized by tensions, oppositions, and conflicts," the Pope's visit and the events in Bahrain in which he will participate are "a message of unity, cohesion, and peace."

Yesterday afternoon Pope Francis paid a visit to the Roman Basilica of Saint Mary Major to entrust his visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

According to a statement by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father spent some time in prayer before an icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani. This was the 100th time he has visited the Basilica since the start of his pontificate.