Holy See–United Arab Emirates relations

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Holy See – United Arab Emirates relations

Holy See
United Arab Emirates

Holy See – United Arab Emirates relations are the foreign relations between the Holy See and the United Arab Emirates. The earliest form of contact between officials of both states was when the founder of the U.A.E. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan unofficially met Pope John Paul II in the 1980s.[1] Relations between the two however were not established until 31 May 2007. According to a Vatican communiqué, the diplomatic arrangement was founded on a desire to promote “bonds of mutual friendship and of strengthening international cooperation.[2]

Ties between the U.A.E. and the Holy See are largely influenced and symbolised by historical Christian-Muslim relations. As a Muslim country, the setting up of U.A.E.'s relations with the Holy See at an ambassadorial level were seen by many as a boost to the Christian population of the U.A.E., which numbers around one million people.[2] The Holy See maintains that its connections with the U.A.E. are fundamentally shaped by the country's values of religious freedom as well as its maintaining of cordial relations with the Catholic Church and the approving of building new centers of worship.[3]

In 2008 the U.A.E. sent a delegation led by Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair to meet the pope in what was the highest-level visit to the Vatican by Emirati officials since the time when links were commenced.[1] Speaking on the occasion, Ghurair remarked that the U.A.E. wanted to establish a strong relationship with the Vatican and enhance civil and religious contacts. “We expect this relationship to materialise soon,” he added. Pope Benedict XVI mentioned that he respected the efforts of the U.A.E.'s leaders in promoting tolerance; in addition, the Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone described the U.A.E. as a model for co-existence among various religions, adding that dialogue between faiths was possible and that extremists only constituted a limited number of followers of religious faiths.[1]

In Abu Dhabi, the Centre for Information Affairs once organised a symposium with the theme "The Role of the Vatican in Spreading the Principles of Coexistence in the World and the Religious Tolerance in the United Arab Emirates." The forum, which included key speakers such as Paul-Mounged El-Hachem and Bishop Paul Hinder, sought to encourage dialogue about the friendship between the two states and the role of religion in society.[4]

In May 2010, the U.A.E. appointed its first woman ambassador to the Vatican, Hissa Abdulla Ahmed Al-Otaiba. At present, Archbishop El-Hachem is the Vatican’s nuncio to the U.A.E.

See also

References

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