Tens of thousands pack stadium for first papal 集まり on Arabian 半島
By Philip Pullella and Stanley Carvalho
ABU DHABI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of カトリック教徒s and several thousand イスラム教徒s …に出席するd an 前例のない public 祝賀 of 集まり on Tuesday by ローマ法王 Francis, the first pontiff in history to visit the Arabian 半島.
More than 120,000 worshippers packed Zayed Sports City stadium and its surroundings in Abu Dhabi, the 資本／首都 of the 部隊d Arab 首長国s, to see the ローマ法王, who is in the 湾 country to 促進する の間の-約束 対話.
The UAE hosts about half of the two million 国外追放／海外移住 カトリック教徒s living on the 半島, home to the birthplace of Islam in 隣人ing Saudi Arabia. The community 含むs large numbers of people from the Philippines and India.
"It is most certainly not 平易な for you to live far from home, 行方不明の the affection of your loved ones, and perhaps also feeling 不確定 about the 未来," the ローマ法王 said, telling those gathered to draw inspiration from Saint Anthony the Abbot, the 創立者 of monasticism in the 砂漠.
"The Lord 専攻するs in doing new things; he can even open paths in the 砂漠," he said at the end of a trip where he met with the grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar イスラム教寺院 and UAE leaders.
Francis entered the stadium in a white open 最高の，を越す jeep to roars from the （人が）群がる. People wearing white baseball caps emblazoned with the visit logo packed the stadium stands and snapped pictures on their smartphones.
Thousands of people 元気づける and waving Vatican 旗s lined the 入り口 to the stadium, with the Sheikh Zayed Grand イスラム教寺院 and Abu Dhabi's 超高層ビルs glinting in the distance.
"For me as a Christian, this is one of the most important days of my life," said Thomas Tijo, a 44-year-old from India's southern 明言する／公表する of Kerala, who lives in the UAE and travelled by bus in the 早期に hours to get to the stadium.
"We are a long way from home and this is like a 慰安ing 一面に覆う／毛布," he said, 持つ／拘留するing his three-year-old son, Ma rcus.
Organisers said カトリック教徒s from about 100 nations were 推定する／予想するd to …に出席する the 集まり, along with about 4,000 イスラム教徒s, 含むing 政府 公式の／役人s.
The ローマ法王, who arrived on Sunday at the 招待 of Abu Dhabi's 栄冠を与える prince, has used the visit to 非難する 地域の wars, 含むing that in Yemen, the poorest country in the 半島, where the UAE is 伴う／関わるd as part of a Saudi-led 軍の 連合. He also called for greater 協調 between Christians and イスラム教徒s.
"The ローマ法王 has made 嘆願s for ending the Yemen war, greater 寛容 and more," said Lina Ghattas, a 48-year-old Egyptian who had travelled from Bahrain.
"I am not sure what will change: time will tell - hope, hope," she said.
PRAYERS FOR MIGRANTS AND PEACE
During the service the ローマ法王 spoke in Italian and English, which is 広範囲にわたって spoken in the UAE where 国外追放／海外移住s より数が多い Emiratis nine to one. The congregation prayed for migrant 労働者s and their families and for the ending of wars.
The 儀式 ended with a 祈り, a thunderous 一連の会議、交渉／完成する of 賞賛 from the （人が）群がる and 組織／臓器 music.
"It´s a dream come true. I feel blessed," said Rio Chavez, a 40-year-old 安全 officer who has been in the UAE for five years. He had called his wife and mother 支援する home in the Philippines before the 集まり so the ローマ法王's message about 存在 far from home and loved ones had resonated for him.
"I feel 新たにするd, 肯定的な, he is an inspiration for me and my family. I will work very hard to bring my family here, I have the ローマ法王's blessings now," he said.
A central part of the Christian 約束, the 集まり 祝う／追悼するs Jesus' Last Supper with his apostles on the night before he died.
カトリック教徒s believe the communion host and ワイン become the 団体／死体 and 血 of Christ when consecrated by a priest during the 集まり. カトリック教徒s believe the ローマ法王 is the vicar of Christ on earth, so 参加するing in a papal 集まり is 特に special.
Priests and 外交官s 述べる the UAE as one of the least restric tive 環境s in the 湾 for Christian worship, which is 許すd in church 構内／化合物s with special licenses. There are more than 40 churches, nine of them for カトリック教徒s.
But, like other 湾 明言する／公表するs, it 無法者s unsanctioned 宗教的な 集会s and 非，不，無-イスラム教徒s must not proselytize.
"This ローマ法王's 発言する／表明する is heard, so our hope and 祈り is that this historic visit brings peace to this 争い-torn 地域," said Clitus Almeida, an Indian engineer who 作品 in Dubai.
"Given the number of カトリック教徒s there is a 悲惨な need for more churches in the UAE," he said, 発言する／表明するing hope that Saudi Arabia, where churches are banned, would also 許す them.
Although there has been no 公式の／役人 comment from Riyadh, the ローマ法王 has featured on the 前線 pages of some of the main newspapers, which ran pictures of Francis' 会合s with the grand imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi on Monday and UAE 公式の／役人s.
An opinion piece in Saudi-owned, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat 賞賛するd the visit and its message of 寛容 and coexistence, which it said 直面するd a discourse of extremism in the 地域.
"The Arab 地域...for a very long time 許すd rigid 発言する／表明するs to ハイジャック（する） 宗教的な discourse, and it is time to 訂正する the error." (付加 報告（する）／憶測ing by Sylvia Westall and Stephen Kalin in Riyadh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and William Maclean)
