Until 2019, no pope had ever traveled to the Arabian Peninsula.
This is a region where, according to the Vicar, Catholics are a minority who are not only tolerated but respected.
PAOLO MARTINELLI
Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia
We are guests, we are citizens, we are there for work. Therefore, we have residence visas, and our presence — including that of the clergy, bishops, and religious sisters — is for work; and this allows us to live, let’s say, well in this land, to have daily relationships with the local population and also with all the other migrants who belong to different religions, fully aware that we are guests, right?
Although, obviously, we work together — we are residents, we are people who contribute to peaceful coexistence.
Christians are allowed to practice their faith, but they are not permitted to evangelize.
All the faithful here are migrants, just like 88% of the country’s population, and most are workers from humble backgrounds.
PAOLO MARTINELLI
Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia
We must recognize this diversity, this plurality within the Church. Our faithful are mainly from the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, as well as from neighboring Arab countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Egypt, and also from Africa.
What unites us all is baptism, the same faith.
I was surprised to see such a high level of participation at Mass. Our churches are packed to the brim. On Saturdays and Sundays, we have to organize in shifts so everyone can attend.
Paolo Martinelli serves as the Vicar responsible for the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and the particularly sensitive country of Yemen, where several Missionaries of Charity were murdered in 1998 and 2016.
POPE FRANCIS
These are today’s martyrs. They do not make the front pages of newspapers; they are not in the news. They are the ones who shed their blood for the Church. They are victims not only of those who killed them but also of indifference, of this globalization of indifference by those who do not care.
Monsignor Paolo Martinelli is a Capuchin, belonging to the religious order that the Vatican has entrusted with leading the Catholic Church in this region for over 200 years.
Trans. VL
