christian-islam history; a whole new page written after Pope’s UAE visit.

Pope Francis is welcomed by Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb at the sheikh Zayed grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 4, 2019.

Pope Francis is welcomed by Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb at the sheikh Zayed grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on February 4, 2019.

Pope Francis was early this week in UAE, a country that is filled to the brim with it’s populations of Muslims and scattered Christians accounting to  at most 10% of the nation.

Pope Francis says his pilgrimage this week to the United Arab Emirates wrote a “new page in history of the dialogue between Christianity and Islam” and in promoting world peace based on brotherhood.

Telling pilgrims at the Vatican Wednesday about making the first-ever papal trip to the Arabian Peninsula, Francis described his encounter with leaders of Islam as a counterpoint to the “strong temptation” to contend there’s a current clash between Christian and Islamic civilizations.

While in Abu Dhabi, Francis signed a document with the grand imam of al-Azhar, the ancient seat of learning in Sunni Islam, condemning religiously motivated and other violence. The pope said the two religious leaders wanted to give a “clear and decisive sign” that respect and dialogue is possible between the Christian and Islamic worlds.

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Pope Francis contacting a mass in Vatican.

Christians account for 13 percent of the total population of the United Arab Emirates, according to a report, which collected census data with Catholics accounting for nearly 1,000,000, a 9% of total population of the christian family.

The government recognizes various christian denominations and  Christians are free to worship and wear religious clothing, if applicable. The country has oriental orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches along with Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. Although Christian women can marry Muslim men freely, marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men is forbidden.

The importation and sale of religious material is allowed; however, attempts to spread Christianity among Muslims are not permitted. Non-Muslim religious leaders reported that customs authorities rarely questioned the entry of religious materials such as Bibles and hymnals into the country. Conversion from Islam is not permitted. In spite of this, a 2015 study estimated some 200 believers in Christ from a Muslim background, though not all of those are necessarily citizen of the UAE. Public schools have no Christian religious education.

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