HM King Hamad meets Pope Francis

THE VATICAN- His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa today (May 19th) met Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace as part of his visit to the Vatican at the invitation of the Holy Pontiff. HM the King stressed Bahrain’s keenness to reinforce friendship and cooperation with the Vatican so as to spread the principles of love among nations and peoples and achieve peace and stability.

He urged consensus between all monotheistic religions and cultures so as diversity becomes part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

HM the King stressed the need to advocate religious, cultural and linguistic diversity by promoting tolerance, pointing out that the only path to achieve successful development is the one which emanates from the identity of society itself. He added that the history of the Muslim-Christian dialogue shows that progress can be achieved only when representatives of the two religions set aside their differences and promote consensus, focusing particularly on common principles and morals bonding monotheistic religions.

HM the King said that Bahrain works constantly to reinforce the values of tolerance and co-existence among all religions and embrace the path of moderation, tolerance and the renunciation of fanaticism and extremism, reaffirming the Kingdom’s commitment to the teachings of the Islam, which advocates love, peace and co-existence between all people.

HM The King cited the Dialogue of Civilizations and Cultures, which was hosted recently in Bahrain under the theme:” “Civilisation in Service of Humanity”, in the presence of over 150 leading figures from all over the world. He said that recommendations of the conference focused particularly on promoting consensus and the renunciation of sectarian violence and hate-mongering.

HM the King commended the tremendous efforts of His Holiness Pope Francis and the Vatican to build bridges of understanding, tolerance and co-existence, foster common core human values which bond all religions and civilizations and spread the values of tolerance and moderation.

His Holiness Pope Francis hailed Bahrain as a model of co-existence and tolerance between all religions, commending the care enjoyed by the followers of all religions among the residents who are living in the Kingdom.

HM the King and the Holy Pontiff discussed working towards the renunciation of all forms of religious fanaticism so as to achieve civil tolerance and peace. HM King Hamad invited Pope Francis to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain, wishing him utmost health and happiness as well as success in performing his humanitarian duties.-BNA