PANJIM: College student Daniella Fernandes of Aquem, Margao, is excited. She’ll be taking a bus ride at midnight to attend mass that will be celebrated by Pope Francis on Monday. Daniella is one of the lucky ones, as the Pope is visiting the United Arab Emirates, and the mass, expected to be attended by 1,20,000 people, will be celebrated at Abu Dhabi.
“I’ve been so fortunate and blessed to live in a country where we’re allowed to practise our faith freely, and to hear that the Pope would be visiting and conducting a mass was amazing news.”
Like Daniella, thousands of others, many of them Goan expatriates in the UAE, will be travelling to Abu Dhabi for the special mass.
“The Pope’s visit will be a milestone for the UAE especially since it will be the first time a High Priest is visiting the Gulf region. We feel privileged that such an opportunity of seeing the Pope from close quarters has come out way. Kudos to the UAE authorities who are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the Pope’s visit goes off smoothly,” said Clareto Monserrate, an NRI from Mumbai.
There’s this unusual buzz in the UAE and it has percolated across all communities. This is the first visit by a Pope to an Arab Gulf nation, and it comes just 12 years after the Vatican and UAE commenced bilateral ties.
Residents of the UAE, irrespective of religious identity are looking forward to welcome Pope Francis to Abu Dhabi. “People across the emirates are only talking about Pope Francis’s visit for few weeks now. And this shows that the UAE has huge love and respect for the heads of all religions,” Raghib Hassan, an NRI from Delhi told Herald.
But, for the Goan community in the Arabian Gulf, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. “The excitement is palpable. Irrespective of religion everyone is looking to the papal visit. In keeping with the Year of Tolerance, this visit is of historic significance. I am thankful to be part of this occasion when pacts of inter-religious harmony will be sealed when the pope meets the UAE leadership, and scholars and clerics from different faiths,” said Caroline Pinto, an NRI from Caranzalem.
Concludes Lester Gracias of Cansaulim, “The visit of our Holy Father is truly a blessing and an absolute privilege to all of us here in the UAE to experience his presence and to pray with him. Our hearts are ever thankful as his visit spreads the message of peace and harmony not only amongst the Catholic world but to every human to love, respect and grow in faith.”
