ROME — Pope Francis began his three-day trip to Bahrain on Thursday by praising the nation’s ethnic and cultural diversity and its high level of immigration.
“One thing stands out in the history of this land: it has always been a place of encounter between different peoples,” the pontiff told Bahrain’s authorities and diplomats.
“The country’s greatest riches shine forth in its ethnic and cultural diversity, and in the peaceful co-existence and the traditional hospitality of its people,” he asserted. “Diversity that is not bland, but inclusive, is the wealth of every truly developed country.”
“On these islands, we can admire a composite, multiethnic and multi-religious society, capable of overcoming the risk of isolation,” he continued. “This is so important in our time, when the tendency to turn in exclusively on ourselves and on our particular interests prevents an appreciation of the essential importance of the greater whole.”
“The numerous national, ethnic and religious groups that coexist in Bahrain testify that we can and must live together in our world, which in these decades has become a global village,” he declared.
The pope attributed the island nation’s rich diversity partly to its openness to immigrants, which he also credited with increasing productivity.
Pope Francis (l) and Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain ,talk at an interfaith congress. Pope Francis is on a four-day trip to Bahrain. Photo: Cindy Riechau/dpa (Cindy Riechau/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Two helicopters fly with the flags of the Vatican as well as Bahrain at the end of an interfaith congress where the Pope gave a speech. Pope Francis is on a four-day trip to Bahrain.(Cindy Riechau/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“In this country, it was the contribution made by so many individuals from different peoples that enabled a remarkable increase in productivity,” he stated. “This was made possible by immigration.”
“The Kingdom of Bahrain vaunts one of the highest levels of immigration in the world,” he said, where “about half of the resident population are foreigners, working in an evident way for the development of a country in which, despite leaving their native countries behind, they feel at home.”
“May we never allow opportunities for encounter between civilizations, religions and cultures to evaporate, or the roots of our humanity to become desiccated and lifeless! Let us work together! Let us work in the service of togetherness and hope!” he exclaimed.
In his address, Francis also responded to a call by human rights organizations such as the George-Soros-funded Human Rights Watch to appeal for an end to the death penalty in Bahrain.
“I think in the first place of the right to life, of the need to guarantee that right always, including for those being punished, whose lives should not be taken,” the pope told officials.
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