The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, knew exactly what he was doing when he invited Pope Francis to visit the Arabian Peninsula to inaugurate the UAE’s “Year of Tolerance.” The visit, which is underway now, represents a historic first in 1,400 years of Islamic history, and it is impossible to exaggerate its significance. Never before has a sitting pontiff been invited by a Muslim ruler to visit the Peninsula which also plays host to Islam’s holiest sites of Mecca and Medina. The visit is not taking place in the shadows, either. Pope Francis will deliver a public mass for more than 120,000 residents of the United Arab Emirates in the national stadium. That gathering, which will represent one of the largest public gatherings in the history of the Arab Sheikhdom, will be broadcast on live television throughout the entire Islamic world, as will the pope’s visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and his meetings with various religious leaders from around the world who are gathered here to commemorate his visit. POPE CALLS FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, RAILS AGAINST 'FAKE NEWS' DURING HISTORIC VISIT TO UAE Adorning the street lights of Abu Dhabi today are two flags: the flag of UAE and the flag of the Vatican. Meanwhile, in a profound statement to the broader Islamic world, the pope was warmly greeted upon his arrival by the Grand Sheikh of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, the oldest and most serious institution of Islamic learning in the entire Arab world. Astonishingly, one of Saudi Arabia’s most important daily newspapers included on its front page, above-the-fold, an article entitled, “Saudi Arabia may feature in future Papal Visit.” That same Saudi newspaper also tweeted, “#PopeFrancis’s unprecedented three-day visit to the UAE will not only mark the first official papal trip ... but also carries hopes with it of a new era of religious tolerance in the Gulf.” Nearly every Arabic language paper in the entire region is featuring the visit on its front page. All of these efforts have an obvious intention – they are meant to signal a new era in the Arab world, for a new generation that is tired of the bastardizing of their religion by extremists. The prime minister and vice president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, put it more elegantly: “We have learned from hundreds of thousands of dead and millions of refugees in our region that sectarian, ideological, cultural and religious bigotry only fuel the fires of rage. We cannot and will not allow this in our country. We need to study, teach and practice tolerance and instill it in our children, both through education and our own example.” All of these efforts have an obvious intention – they are meant to signal a new era in the Arab world, for a new generation that is tired of the bastardizing of their religion by extremists. Dr. Zaki Nusseibeh, a longtime member of the government agreed, telling me recently, “It is not sufficient to talk about abstract concepts like human fraternity and peaceful coexistence, we have to do something about it.” Many such actions are being undertaken, but one that particularly struck me was an announcement made by the noted minister of culture, Her Excellency Noura Al Kaabi, that the UAE would be rebuilding two churches destroyed by Daesh (ISIS) in Mosul, Iraq. Those churches are adjacent to the very Grand Mosque where the leader of the so-called Islamic State announced his now-decimated “caliphate.” Rebuilding those churches represents a profound act of solidarity with Iraq’s beleaguered Christian community, and a demonstration of the triumph of peace over the terror that ravaged Iraq just a few years ago. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The UAE has long been a beacon of openness, freedom and tolerance in the Islamic world. Those values have emanated from its famous business and tourism cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But this week’s events have taken those efforts to another plane, entirely. They are the fodder of history, examples of profound leadership in a turbulent time, and they deserve the commendation of the entire world. They also merit the notice of the Nobel Committee.<doc-sep>(CNN) — Pope Francis kicked off his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, arriving at Abu Dhabi’s lavish presidential palace in his trademark understated Kia Soul hatchback. The small black car – a notable choice in a kingdom known for its gold-plated lifestyle – was flanked by cavalry as it wound its way toward the palace. It’s the first time a pontiff has visited the Gulf state and Francis was greeted with an artillery salute and aircraft trailing yellow and white smoke through the sky in honor of the Vatican flag. GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images Planes fly over the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The Pope is on a three-day visit to the UAE capital, and on Monday afternoon gave his first public speech at a meeting with Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders at the city’s Founder’s Memorial center. The Pontiff called on the world’s religious leaders to reject war, mentioning the conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya. “Let us commit ourselves against the logic of armed power,” Francis said. He also warned against the “raising of walls,” in what could be seen as a reference to President Donald Trump’s pledged border wall with Mexico. In a wide-ranging speech, the Pope also mentioned the sexual abuse scandal which has embroiled the Catholic Church for decades, praising a November meeting held in Abu Dhabi on child dignity in the digital world. Francois Nel/Getty Images Guards march ahead of the arrival of Pope Francis at the presidential palace. Gifts fit for a Pope Earlier in the day, Francis met with Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Presidential Palace. The three discussed “enhancing cooperation” and “important initiatives to achieve peace,” the Crown Prince tweeted. Handout/Vatican Media Pope Francis' message in the palace's Book of Honor. In a handwritten message in the palace’s Book of Honor, the Pope thanked his hosts for their “warm welcome” and invoked “divine blessings of peace” on the people of the UAE. The Crown Prince, in turn, gifted the Pope the act of notary dating back to June 22, 1963, for a donation of land to build the first church in the UAE. The Pope’s meeting with palace officials comes at a delicate political time for the UAE, which is involved in a coalition with Saudi Arabia in a war in Yemen. Handout/Vatican Media The act of notary, detailing the donation of land to build the first church in the UAE. While it is unknown whether Francis discussed the topic with the Crown Prince during their private meeting, the Pope did issue a public plea for peace in Yemen from the Vatican on Sunday, just an hour before his departure for Abu Dhabi. In off-the-cuff remarks not included in his prepared speech, the Pope said: “Let us pray loudly because there are children that are hungry, are thirsty, don’t have medicine and their lives are in danger.” In response, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, said in a tweet that he “welcomed” the pontiff’s prayers, calling on 2019 to be “the year of peace” in Yemen. ’Let us pray loudly’ for Yemen’s children The Pope’s trip culminates Tuesday with a papal mass at the Zayed Sports City, expected to be the single-largest gathering in the country, with about 135,000 attendees. The UAE has declared Tuesday a holiday for invitees to the mass. The overwhelming majority of Emiratis are Muslim, but the country hosts a large expatriate population, some 1.2 million of whom are Christian. Among churchgoers in the UAE, excitement at the visit has been at fever-pitch, church leaders told CNN. “It is as if Jesus is coming to my home,” said Faisal Kheeran, who is originally from Pakistan and has lived in the UAE for nearly a decade. CNN’s Delia Gallagher reported from Abu Dhabi, with Sheena McKenzie writing and reporting in London. Nada Altaher also contributed to this report<doc-sep>Pope Francis on Tuesday concluded a historic visit to the Arabian Peninsula after ministering to the United Arab Emirates’ thriving Catholic community with the first-ever papal Mass in the country. The celebration marked what some considered to be the largest showing of public Christian worship on the peninsula that birthed Islam. The hymns of “Halleluja” booming out from speakers, marked an unprecedented achievement for the Emirates’ much-touted assertions for other faiths and comes a day after Francis made a broad appeal for Christian and Muslim leaders to work together to promote peace and reject war. POPE FRANCIS CALLS MARY THE 'FIRST INFLUENCER,' CELEBRATES WORLD YOUTH DAY IN PANAMA Cheers erupted inside and outside the Zayed Sports City Stadium as Francis arrived and looped through the crowd in his open-sided popemobile, as chants of "Viva il Papa" and "We love you!" echoed from the crowd, estimated to be around 135,000. Organizers said faithful from 100 countries would attend, as well as 4,000 Muslims from this Muslim federation — evidence of the enormous diversity among the 9 million people who live in the UAE. "We have to say it is really a big event for us which we never expected," said Sumitha Pinto, and Indian native who has lived in the UAE for nearly 20 years. She attended the Mass with her husband and four sons, the youngest of whom held up a sign with the pope's photo that read: "Welcome Pope Francis. Make Me a Channel of Your Peace." God is with those who seek peace. — Pope Francis The Emirates' Catholic community is something an anomaly for the region — large, diverse and thriving at a time when the wider Mideast has seen an exodus of Christians fleeing persecution at the hands of ISIS and others. The Catholic Church estimates as many as 1 million of the over 9 million living in the UAE are Catholic, nearly all of them foreigners drawn to the oil-rich federation to find work. They can face precarious labor conditions, which human rights groups regularly denounce. "It is most certainly not easy for you to live far from home, missing the affection of your loved ones, and perhaps also feeling uncertainty about the future," Francis said in a homily that was delivered in Italian and translated into Arabic with English subtitles on giant screens. "But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon his people." Francis also told his flock — many of them poor, manual laborers — that they need not build great "superhuman" works to be faithful. It was a message extolling meekness in a country that is home to the world's biggest skyscraper and is known for its opulence and excess. "Jesus did not ask us to build great works or draw attention to ourselves with extraordinary gestures. He asked us to produce just one work of art, possible for everyone: our own life," Francis said to an elated crowd. "He is almost divine. He has a special charisma, which appeals to each one," said Raphael Muntenkurian, 64, an Indian-native and former seminarian who has lived in the UAE for more than 30 years. "Everybody is actually mesmerized by his appeal for peace and tolerance," he said. "His simplicity and humility is always praiseworthy." In an indication of the diversity of the Catholic flock, the prayers during Mass were being read out in a variety of languages and addressed the variety of hardships that many face. A prayer in the Indian language of Konkani called for public officials to be "illuminated" and promote the dignity of all, while the one in the Filipino language of Tagalog urged prayers for migrants and workers in the UAE so that "their sacrifice and work may blossom and sustain their families." The one in French called for those who foment violence to change their ways and "stop wars, overcome hatred and help us forge links of justice and peace." POPE CALLS FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, RAILS AGAINST 'FAKE NEWS' DURING HISTORIC VISIT TO UAE On Monday, the pope met with Emirati leaders and signed a document promoting "human fraternity" with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar, the revered 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Muslim learning. He also urged religious leaders to work together to reject the "miserable crudeness" of war and resist the "logic of armed power ... the arming of borders, the raising of walls." "There is no alternative: we will either build the future together or there will not be a future," Francis told Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince and hundreds of imams, muftis, ministers, rabbis and swamis gathered in the Emirati capital at a time when the UAE-backed Saudi war in Yemen has driven the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine. "God is with those who seek peace," Francis added. GET THE FOX NEWS APP Francis' visit, 800 years after his peace-loving namesake St. Francis of Assisi visited an Egyptian sultan, marked the culmination of years of Holy See efforts to improve relations with the Muslim world after they hit a low during the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI. Since then, religious fanaticism and faith-inspired wars have only grown around the globe, inspiring the pontiff's efforts to promote tolerance and understanding. The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Mass at Zayed Sport City on February 5, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Pope Francis visits the UAE for a landmark, three-day visit. It will be the first time that a Pope has ever come to the United Arab Emirates. Francois Nel | Getty Images ABU DHABI — Sarika Yaqoob and her family left Dubai at midnight to arrive in Abu Dhabi at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the day Pope Francis would deliver a historic mass during what was the first-ever visit by a pontiff to the Arabian Peninsula. "We've been here since 3 a.m., we were walking all the way," Yaqoob told CNBC at the edge of Zayed Sports City Stadium, where more than 140,000 attendees had gathered for the mass both inside and outside the venue. Because of blocked roads, her family parked their car some six miles from the stadium and walked. But they aren't tired, she said, her voice brimming with anticipation. "We are not tired, we are very excited, really energetic … our legs are aching, but it's something you get to witness once in a lifetime. This is something that is very exciting." Yaqoob, whose family hails from Pakistan, is one of the estimated 1 million Catholics living in the United Arab Emirates. The invitation by the UAE government of Pope Francis has drawn attention to the comparative religious freedom enjoyed by its residents, who span more than 200 nationalities, in a region that's better known for strict Islamic conservatism. "I never thought I would see this, because it's a Muslim country," one attendee, a Filipina resident of Dubai for the past nine years, told CNBC from the stadium stands. "It is so nice ... I cannot explain it." More than 140,000 faithful attend a mass given by Pope Francis in and around Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City Stadium during the first-ever visit by a pontiff to the Arabian Peninsula. Abu Dhabi, UAE, February 5, 2019. Natasha Turak | CNBC "This is a very, very big blessing to see him in Abu Dhabi, and was a lifetime experience for us," said 23-year-old Joshua Sebastian, a Catholic from Kerala, India. "It's a big deal to see him here in UAE, I've only seen him on the internet and videos on Youtube. But seeing him in a close vicinity was like ... I have no words for that." 25-year-old John Bruce, another Kerala native, echoed his friend's disbelief. "I never expected I could see (the pope) in my lifetime. It's like a dream come true." The three-day visit by Pope Francis, which began on Sunday with a welcome by Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the emirate's presidential palace, is a part of the government's designation of 2019 as the "Year of Tolerance." Residents at Tuesday's mass praised the country's initiative. "That we get to witness something like this in the UAE, the first time a pope is coming to the Arabian Peninsula, that shows tolerance, and we are experiencing it now," said Saroosh William, a Pakistani-born lifelong resident of Dubai, noting the free tickets and transport for the event. "It shows a good sign between two different faiths, that they are actually being very generous to each other." Emirati leaders praised the pope ahead of his hour-and-a-half long mass, which was delivered in a combination of Arabic, English and Latin. The stadium was awash with spectators waving white and yellow Vatican flags, who later took communion from volunteers distributing sacramental bread among the stands. Religious freedom in the UAE While it's a Muslim country that implements Islamic law in many aspects of its governance, the UAE hosts numerous churches and Hindu temples, and authorities have even recognized a house-turned-synagogue. Neighboring Saudi Arabia, by contrast, forbids the building of churches or any non-Muslim religious establishments. But critics and rights groups point to severe restrictions that remain in the UAE on religious freedom — attempting to convert Muslims to any other religion is a crime, and converting out of Islam is punishable by death. Tweet1 The pope on Monday took part in a multi-religious conference sponsored by the UAE-based Muslim Council of Elders, an organization aimed at promoting a moderate brand of Islam to counter religious extremism. The initiative was created by Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of the Al-Azhar University in Egypt, which is a thousand-year-old center of Muslim scholarship and clerical training considered one of the holiest seats of Sunni Islam.