Pope Francis makes historic visit to Abu Dhabi

Pope Francis arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday in the first-ever visit by the head of the Vatican to the Arabian Peninsula.

During his 48-hour trip, the pontiff met leading Muslim clerics and visited Presidential Palace, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque as well as spoke at an interfaith meeting at the Founder's Memorial.

He will hold an open-air mass for nearly 135,000 Catholics on Tuesday.

UAE today was proud to host the historic meeting of His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence Dr. Ahmad Al Tayeb. We launched the 'Human Fraternity Award' to create a true interfaith dialogue. The two religious symbols were honoured during the award's first edition. pic.twitter.com/69MBNiXV7z

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) February 4, 2019

Pope Francis has been making pastoral visits to Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Albania since ascending to the papacy in 2013.

Meanwhile, Nigel Green, chief executive officer, deVere Group, said that the Pope’s historic visit to the UAE is another symbolic advance in the emirates becoming a major global business and finance hub.

“This is a truly historic papal visit and a major international event. Pope Francis will bring a message of the importance of building global relations and peaceful coexistence. Another key theme will be of welcoming immigrants, which, naturally, has huge significance to the UAE, where the majority of the population is made up of expat workers," he added.

News: @HHShkMohd, @MohamedBinZayed hold discussions with @Pontifex https://t.co/HTezQLMLxz#PopeFrancisInUAE#UAE pic.twitter.com/9heWLHemin

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) February 4, 2019

.@HHShkMohd, @MohamedBinZayed attend signing of ‘Human Fraternity Document’ https://t.co/HHUMtjvuHd#UAE pic.twitter.com/jmKn0NXgbE

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) February 4, 2019