The historic visit of Pope Francis to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates from February 3-5, 2019 falls when we Francisans are marking the 800th anniversary of the visit of St. Francis of Assisi to the Sultan of Egypt, and a former Capuchin Council Member and present bishop, Paul Hinder, OFM Cap., is the Vicar Apostolic of Southern Arabia & Yemen plays host to our Holy Father. Bishop Paul has quite a few Capuchin confreres ministering with him.
In fact, the pastoral care of the countries of the peninsula is entrusted to us Capuchins as a ius commissionis. There are 75 friars from twenty circumscriptions of the Order - and Dennis is among them. The General Curia has an article on the historic moment. The two brief videos below discuss the local plans for the event, and Paul talks about the importance of this moment. At Abu Dhabi's stadium, the Pope will celebrate the Mass for an expected assembly of more than 100,000 women and men - the first time a Bishop of Rome has ever done so. Apart from the Mass, the Pope’s itinerary includes a visit to the grand mosque of Sheik Zayed and an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi.