Pope’s visit generating hope for a new era of tolerance in the Gulf

Bishop Paul Hinder, of the Apostolic Vicariate for Southern Arabia, based at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi. Pope Francis will visit the cathedral this week as part of a three-day tour of the UAE. (Supplied photo)
Updated 05 February 2019
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Pope’s visit generating hope for a new era of tolerance in the Gulf

  • Pope's trip coincides with the UAE’s celebration of the Year of Tolerance
  • Christians have enjoyed the freedom to worship in the UAE since the country was formed

DUBAI: Pope Francis’s unprecedented three-day visit to the UAE will not only mark the first official papal trip to the GCC, but also carry hopes with it of a new era of religious tolerance in the Gulf.

Bishop Paul Hinder, of the Apostolic Vicariate for Southern Arabia, based at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi, said that there was no person better placed to deliver the message of peace and mutual understanding than the 82-year-old pontiff.

“This visit is centered on the ‘human fraternity for inter-religious dialogue,’ and I would say Pope Francis is truly the right person to stress this point — to show how it works, to show how to bypass borders and approach each other without fear,” Hinder told Arab News. “That is something important and, for this, I would say the pope is extraordinary.

“He is not afraid to meet people of completely different cultures and faiths.”

Hinder said that he hoped the pope’s visit would give fresh impetus to the “policy of tolerance,” which he felt some needed to adhere to more than others.

The pope was invited to the UAE by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, during his visit to the Vatican City in 2016. The pope’s visit coincides with the UAE’s celebration of the Year of Tolerance, declared by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in December last year. 

“Tolerance can be something passive, but I think the goal has to be more, it has to be a mutual understanding and an approach which accepts the different faiths and mentalities of other human beings,” said Hinder. The pope had a “unique” way of reading a person’s suffering and helping them regardless of race, religion, culture or faith, he added. 

“He is someone who has a pastoral approach; he doesn’t look at, as I would say, ‘the book,’ he looks at the person. That gives him an inner freedom which many others do not have, to have an approach which looks first at the human being … Pope Francis approaches people as Jesus did.”

The pontiff will make a private visit to St. Joseph’s Cathedral on Tuesday, the last day of his tour, where he will meet with 300 members of the congregation, many families with children with special needs, as well as the sick and elderly. 

Hinder will be part of the official delegation appointed to the pope during his stay in the UAE. 




St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi was established in 1962. (Supplied photo)

More than 1 million Christians live and work in the UAE, most of them Catholics. While formal relations between the UAE and the Vatican were established in 2007, Catholics have enjoyed the freedom to worship there since before the country was formed, with St. Joseph’s Cathedral being established in 1962.

“The relationship has been good (with the UAE) since the beginning, since we were first here — and that has developed,” said Hinder. “I always enjoy the relationship and, as the bishop, I have great respect for the authorities and their concerns for the church and for me as head of the Catholic church in the region. 

“I have great admiration for the policy of this country regarding tolerance. I can see the UAE’s interest in showing itself to the world as a country open to other people and, in a certain sense, as a model of society that teaches people of different cultures and different faiths how they can live together in peace and harmony.”

Ahead of the pope arriving in Abu Dhabi, choristers have been busy rehearsing hymns, organizers have been making last-minute preparations, and the excitement of the Christian population has reached fever pitch.

Theresa Dorado, 40, from the Philippines, is one of an estimated 135,000 people who will attend a papal Mass at Zayed Sports City on Tuesday.

Speaking outside St. Joseph’s Cathedral, where thousands of Catholics attend Mass every week, she said: “I got a message by mail saying I had got a ticket. I was over the moon. I am excited because it will be the first time that I have seen the pope. It will be a memorable occasion for Abu Dhabi.”

Filipino Chaberyl Celoso, a nurse with the Abu Dhabi Health Services Co. (SEHA), has been selected to assist with medical support at the stadium during the event.

“I am so excited to be involved. This is the first time the GCC has had someone from the Vatican City here, and it couldn’t be a more high-ranking individual. The whole community is very excited. I don’t mind if I get a glimpse of the pope or not. I just want to hear his voice and what he has to say to the people.”

Ese Aazagbaesuweli, from Nigeria, is also looking forward to the visit. “It will be an experience of a lifetime. I didn’t manage to get a ticket, but I will be glued to my TV. 

“We are in a Muslim country, and I am so impressed he is coming here, especially now, in the Year of Tolerance. 

“We are all the same; Muslims, Catholics, Christians, Buddhists, we believe in the same thing — peace. And I believe no region teaches violence, all religions teach peace, and I hope this visit will remind people of that.”

Myra Esguerra, 50, from the Philippines, was still waiting to hear if she had managed to get a ticket for the Mass. “Even if I don’t get one, I will somehow hopefully get to see him (the pope) pass by,” she said.

Vanessa Unigo, who moved from the Philippines four months ago to work as a nanny in Abu Dhabi, hopes it will be the second time she sees a sitting pope. Almost 24 years ago, Unigo met Pope John Paul II during World Youth Day in Manila.

Maria Joshy, 13, from Kerala, in India, will be attending the public Mass with her family. She said: “I have been to (the Vatican) in Rome but never seen a pope.”

Friends Baltazar Dano and Sedfreygian Fernandez, also from the Philippines, are hoping to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. “We are very happy because it is the first time he has visited here,” said Dano. “Around the UAE, all Catholics are excited.”

Pope memorabilia, including T-shirts and baseball caps, has been selling fast at stalls outside St. Joseph’s Cathedral.

The congregation, led by Father Gandolf Wild, were told to pray for the “safe and successful” visit of the pope. “The pope’s visit will launch this Year of Tolerance, and there will be many other initiatives to spread the spirit of tolerance … and the inclusion of all regardless of health and ability,” said Wild.

“We encourage all to work together in peace and harmony and we know that Pope Francis has the ability to reach out to people and touch their hearts.”


‘Welcome back’: Israelis cheer, cry as hostages freed from Gaza

Updated 15 February 2025
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‘Welcome back’: Israelis cheer, cry as hostages freed from Gaza

  • All three men were taken from Nir Oz, a kibbutz community near the Gaza border
  • They watched the release from the town of Carmei Gat in southern Israel

TEL AVIV: Holding up signs reading “sorry and welcome back” and “complete the ceasefire,” hundreds of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostages Square” on Saturday to watch Hamas release three Israeli hostages from Gaza.
In smaller groups, friends and relatives of the released men — Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, 29, and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn, 46 — shed tears of joy at the sight of their loved ones, who were made to address a crowd in Gaza from a stage alongside rifle-wielding militants.
All three men were taken from Nir Oz, a kibbutz community near the Gaza border, during Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 which sparked the war.
Dekel-Chen’s wife, Avital, who gave birth to the couple’s third daughter two months after her husband was seized, was waiting for him at an army base in southern Israel.
“My breath has returned. He looks so handsome,” she said following his release in a call to her sister aired by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster.
Other relatives of Dekel-Chen said they were relieved to see him alive.
“I am excited, and I see that he looks OK, and I want to hug him,” his mother-in-law told Kan, wiping away tears.
Dekel-Chen’s sister-in-law said: “Thank God that everything is OK and they were on their feet.”
They watched the release from the town of Carmei Gat in southern Israel, where some residents of Nir Oz have moved to since the attack.
In Kfar Saba, in central Israel, a friend of the Horn family, Ronnie Milo, told AFP that she was experiencing “unimaginable joy” on seeing him return alive.
Ronli Nissim, of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group, said: “It’s an emotional roller coaster, and also very bittersweet.”
“Every time someone comes back... we are just a jumble of emotions,” she said.
“But then we’re thinking about everyone who’s left behind, and we know that they are mistreated, we know that they’re in hell, and they’re just waiting to be released.”
So far under the Gaza truce, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli custody.
The 42-day first phase of the truce stipulates the release of a total of 33 hostages, including eight Israel says are dead, in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
Out of the 251 people abducted during the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants, 70 remain in Gaza, with half of them dead according to the Israeli military.
In Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Trupanov’s friends and family clapped, cheered and cried as they watched the 29-year-old, who had been held by Hamas’s ally Islamic Jihad, step out of a car in Gaza.
In a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Trupanov’s family said they were grateful to see him return.
“Finally, Sasha can be surrounded by his loved ones and begin a new path,” said the statement, adding that they did not know if Trupanov was “aware that his father, Vitaly, was murdered on October 7.”
“This knowledge — or lack thereof — will completely transform his homecoming from a day of great joy to one of deep mourning for his beloved father,” they said.


Kremlin thanks Hamas for freeing Russian-Israeli hostage: state media

Updated 15 February 2025
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Kremlin thanks Hamas for freeing Russian-Israeli hostage: state media

  • Moscow welcomed the freeing of Alexander Trufanov and expresses its gratitude to Hamas

MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Saturday said it was grateful to Palestinian militant group Hamas for freeing a Russian-Israeli hostage from Gaza in another prisoner exchange with Israel.
“Moscow welcomes the freeing of Alexander Trufanov (identified by Israel as Sasha Trupanov) and expresses its gratitude to the Hamas leadership for taking this decision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.


Lebanon official media report Israeli drone strike in south

Updated 15 February 2025
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Lebanon official media report Israeli drone strike in south

  • An Israeli enemy drone carried out a strike targeting the outskirts of Ainata, said NNA

BEIRUT: Lebanese official media said an Israeli drone struck the country’s south on Saturday, without reporting casualties, days before a deadline in a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“An Israeli enemy drone carried out a strike” targeting the outskirts of the town of Ainata, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, adding that “nobody was hurt” and that “drones and surveillance aircraft are still flying over the area at low altitude.”


Three Israeli hostages freed in Gaza, Israel releases 369 Palestinians in exchange

Updated 15 February 2025
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Three Israeli hostages freed in Gaza, Israel releases 369 Palestinians in exchange

  • Exchange of hostages and prisoners maintains ceasefire, with buses carrying freed Palestinians arriving to cheering crowds in Ramallah, Gaza
  • The swap takes place after negotiations, with both sides focusing on the next phase to return the remaining hostages and end the war

KHAN YOUNIS:  Hamas released Israeli hostages Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel Chen and Sasha (Alexander) Troufanov in Gaza on Saturday and Israel freed some 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange, after mediators helped avert a collapse of the fragile ceasefire.
The three Israelis were led onto a stage with Palestinian Hamas militants armed with automatic rifles standing on each side of them at the site in Khan Younis, live footage showed, before they were taken back into Israel by Israeli forces.
Shortly afterwards, buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees departed Israel’s Ofer jail in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The first bus arrived in Ramallah to a cheering crowd, some waving Palestinian flags.

Freed Palestinian prisoners gesture from a bus after being released by Israel as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 15, 2025. (Reuters)

“We didn’t expect to be freed, but God is great, God set us free,” said Musa Nawarwa, 70, from the West Bank town of Bethlehem, who was serving two life terms for killings of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.
Buses carrying some of the hundreds of Palestinian freed prisoners and detainees, some flashing victory signs as they hung from the windows, arrived later at the European Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

A few were returning to an enclave they have not seen for years, before it was blasted into rubble by Israeli airstrikes and shelling in 15 months of war. But most were rounded up after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The ceasefire’s second phase would usher in negotiations to return the remaining living hostages among the 251 seized that day, and complete an Israeli military withdrawal before a final end to the war and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Israeli hostages Iair Horn, 46, left, Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, center left, and Alexander Troufanov, 29, right, are escorted by Hamas on a stage before being handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip on Feb. 15, 2025. (AP)

Argentina-born Iair Horn, 46, was taken captive together with his younger brother Eitan. Horn appeared to have lost considerable weight in captivity.
“Now, we can breathe a little. Our Iair is home after surviving hell in Gaza. Now, we need to bring Eitan back so our family can truly breathe,” Horn’s family said in a statement.
The swap of the three Israelis for the 369 Palestinians allayed growing alarm that the ceasefire agreement could unravel before the end of the 42-day first stage of the truce pact in effect since January 19.
In what has become known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, people broke into cheers and tears after hearing the Red Cross was on its way to deliver the three to Israeli military forces.
Dekel Chen, a US-Israeli, Troufanov, a Russian Israeli, and Horn along with his brother Eitan were seized in Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities near Gaza’s border that were overrun by Hamas gunmen on October 7, 2023.
Some of the dozens of masked Islamist Hamas fighters deployed at the handover site carried rifles seized from the Israeli military during the October attack, Hamas sources said.

On the handover stage in Khan Younis, the hostages were made to give short statements in Hebrew and militants presented Horn with an hourglass and photo of another Israeli hostage still in Gaza and his mother, reading “time is running out (for the hostages still in Gaza).”
Troufanov was abducted with his mother, grandmother and girlfriend — all of whom were released during a brief November 2023 pause in hostilities. His father was killed in the attack on Nir Oz, one of the worst-hit communities, where one in four people either died or were taken hostage.

A freed Palestinian prisoner is hugged by a boy after being released by Israel as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 15, 2025. (Reuters)

On October 7, Dekel Chen, 36, left his pregnant wife and two little daughters in the family safe room to go out and fight gunmen rampaging through the kibbutz.
He embraced his tearful wife Avital tightly and said “perfect” with a big smile when she told him the name of their baby daughter, who he has not yet seen, was Shahar Mazal, Hebrew for “dawn” and “luck,” in a video released by the military.
Nineteen Israeli and five Thai hostages have been released so far, with 73 still in captivity, around half of whom have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities.
Prospects for the ceasefire surviving have been shaken by US President Donald Trump’s call for Palestinians to be resettled permanently out of Gaza, and for the tiny enclave to be turned over to the US to be redeveloped as a seaside resort. That idea has been rejected out of hand by Palestinian groups, Arab states and Western allies of Washington.


Israel army chief says ‘preparing offensive plans’ amid efforts to secure hostages’ release

Updated 15 February 2025
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Israel army chief says ‘preparing offensive plans’ amid efforts to secure hostages’ release

  • Lt. General Halevi said they are making immense efforts to bring the captives back

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army chief said on Saturday the military was “preparing offensive plans” even as efforts to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza continue.
Following the latest prisoner-hostage swap under a truce deal with Hamas militants, Lt. General Herzi Halevi said, referring to the captives who remain in Gaza: “We are making immense efforts to bring them back while simultaneously preparing offensive plans.”