Pope Francis landmark three-day visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain touched hearts across the Gulf region. This historical moment attracted thousands of worshippers to come and see him. On the first evening Pope Francis was welcomed by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the Sakhir Royal Palace. The Pope used a wheelchair and cane throughout his travel because his strained knee ligaments had not healed. The Pope also visited the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, Scared Heart Church in Manama and couple of schools across the country. He celebrated an early morning public mass at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa. The Pope spoke of Bahrain as a “living image of coexistence in diversity, and indeed an image of our world, increasingly marked by the constant migration of peoples and by a pluralism of ideas, customs and traditions”. His homily was focused on peace as he repeated the message that "friction and conflict could be resolved with kindness". The majority of attendees were from Bahrain, close to 3,000 were from Saudi Arabia, 140 from Qatar, 470 from Kuwait, 190 from Oman and the United Arab Emirates, and 400 from the rest of the world. (Khushnum Bhandari/ The National News)
